A curious case of mistaken identity ...

From the Auckland Star, 7 April 1920.

"A curious case of mistaken identity comes from the Henderson district. A farmer missed his cow from a paddock, and nowhere could the cow be found till some time later, on passing through Avondale he saw what he took to be his missing crumpled horn quietly grazing in a field by the roadside.

"Full of righteous anger he straightaway accused the owner of the field with being in wrongful possession of his best milker. The new possessor just as hotly denied any evil, declaring he had brought back the cow at a local sale of farm stock, and declined to be summarily dispossessed.

"The owner thereupon sought the aid of the police, and subsequent inquiry bore out the story of the new proprietor. It appears that when the sale in question was being held a drover was sent to Henderson to bring in an outlying cow to the sale. He failed to discover the animal in the paddock, but while returning saw one tallying to the description feeding in a cemetery, and without more ado gathered her in, and she was duly sold.

"When the police instituted inquiries to clear the mystery the cow for which the drover was sent was discovered grazing in the paddock in which she was originally supposed to be, and upon the two animals being compared they were found to be as like as Siamese twins. The tangle was unravelled by the purchaser consenting to an exchange."