WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Iowa wildlife experts have released two squirrels after a vet removed electrical zip ties from around their necks, including one with a bell attached. Dreama Bartz with the Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation Project said Wednesday that she trapped the animals this month after a Waterloo resident called to report the apparent cruelty. A vet helped to remove the ties and determined the squirrels were not hurt before they were released back into the neighborhood where they were found.

Members of an Iowa wildlife rehabilitation organization have returned two squirrels to their Waterloo neighborhood after removing electrical zip ties from around the necks of both and a bell from the neck of one. (Dreama Bartz/Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation Project via AP)

Bartz thinks a resident captured the squirrels as infants and let them go months later, after realizing the frisky pair wouldn’t works as pets. She thinks the zip ties and bell were ways to keep track of them. Bartz says the squirrels could have been choked by the ties as they grew.