'All Cats Are Beautiful' Bag Gets Woman Fined by Cops

'What a bloody disgusting country'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted May 26, 2016 12:59 PM CDT
'All Cats Are Beautiful' Bag Gets Woman Fined by Cops
Her bag states "All Cats Are Beautiful," but police claim what she really meant is "All Cops Are Bastards."   (Twitter)

Maybe the officers were dog people? The Local reports a woman in Madrid was fined by police Sunday for carrying a bag that read "All Cats Are Beautiful." The two riot officers that stopped graphic designer Belén Lobero claimed the acronym on the bag—despite the drawing of a cat and aforementioned phrase—actually stood for "All Cops Are Bastards," according to El País. That meaning of the acronym dates back to the 1970s, was made famous by a British punk band, and is frequently used by soccer hooligans. A police spokesperson tells the AP the lettering on the bag is similar to that used in anti-cop tattoos and graffiti. Officers hit Lobero with a fine of up to $670 under Spain's Public Security Law, which—among other things—makes "disrespecting the police" illegal.

Lobero took to social media to complain about the fine. "What a bloody disgusting country," the Local quotes one of her Facebook posts as saying. "But well, ALL CATS ARE BEAUTIFUL and anyone who says otherwise is lying." Her tweet about the incident was shared more than 20,000 times. After that, the Madrid police commissioner decided to drop the fine against her, citing the bag's "ambivalence." The Public Security Law went into effect last July. Critics—including the UN, rights groups, and journalists—call it the Gag Law. Opponents are vowing to repeal it contingent on the outcome of elections next month. (More weird crimes stories.)

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