Officers spent hours looking for a mountain lion on the loose from a pet shop, but later said the threat was based on a false report.

Police in South Carolina said 55-year-old Bill Lunsford reported a burglar breaking into the store and letting the animal loose. Police warned residents that the domesticated, declawed mountain lion was one metre tall and 45 kilograms, and wearing a dog harness.

About a dozen officers looked for the cat for up to 18 hours but officers later said the report was a hoax and a mountain lion was never at the store. Lunsford has been charged with filing a false police report.

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