Canadian province's most inappropriate 911 calls include clogged drain

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Police in Saskatchewan, Canada, are reminding residents not to abuse the 911 emergency line by revealing some of the most unusual calls of 2022, including calls about clogged drains and unwanted voicemails.

RCMP Saskatchewan released its list of the top 10 non-emergency calls that "missed the mark" in 2022 by being placed to 911, including a caller who requested assistance deleting a voicemail from their phone, a caller whose bathtub drain was clogged and a caller who used the emergency line to avoid being put on hold in a request for paperwork.

Other non-emergencies that made the list of 2022's most inappropriate 911 calls included a prank caller reporting a "cougar," which turned out to be referencing the colloquial term for an attractive older woman.

Another caller asked operators "if they knew the name of the polite RCMP officer who had served in their community. The caller was hoping for an update to see how the officer's family was doing. While well-meaning, this certainly would not be considered an emergency."

A 911 caller reported their roommate had eaten their take-out order, a caller reported a "hostile cat" in their neighborhood, a caller reported they were out of milk and a caller reported that swallowing a mosquito had caused them to choke and lose their dentures, the RCMP said.

"Before dialing 911, please remember that calling the police should be reserved for police-related matters only and calling 911 should be reserved for life-threatening emergencies only," the RCMP said.