'I've sent my dog to St Tropez,' Mourinho told police

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Jose Mourinho has boasted of how he taunted police who tried to take away his dog by telling them: "I've sent him to St Tropez."

The colourful Chelsea boss outwitted officers who tried to put the puppy in quarantine by saying he had to make an urgent phone call - then took the dog outside, only to return empty-handed.

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No comment: Mourinho refused to speak as he was driven from his Belgravia home

When the irate policemen asked him where he had been - and where he had put the dog - he cockily replied: "I'm the invisible man."

Mourinho was promptly arrested and cautioned for obstruction after he refused to tell police what he had done with the Yorkshire terrier, which was thought to have been brought into the country in breach of anti-rabies laws.

Sources close to the "Special One", as he calls himself, told the Mail yesterday he had pulled off the canine vanishing trick by phoning his chauffeur, who drove to the Portugese manager's house and whisked the puppy away.

The quarantine officers responsible for seizing the dog admitted yesterday they had no idea of its whereabouts, but it is thought the puppy, bought by Mourinho in March, is being looked after by a friend of the £5.2million-a-year soccer boss.

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Dog of a day: Jose Mourinho with wife Tami

Speaking to the Portugese sports paper A Bola, Mourinho, 44, gave his version of what happened when an animal welfare officer from the City of London Corporation arrived at his house with two Metropolitan Police officers to seize the dog after a tip-off from a vet.

Mourinho had been at Chelsea's player of the year dinner when his wife Tami phoned him from their £5m mews house in Belgravia at 8.30pm on Tuesday.

He returned home to find his children Matilde, ten, and Jose Junior, six, in tears.

"One of the police officers was incapable of analysing the animal's documents," said Mourinho, who has repeatedly insisted the dog had been given all the necessary jabs.

"He said to me he would have to take it into quarantine.

"I proposed going in the following day with all the documents. They said no, they would have to take the dog. I said no, they would have to take me instead, but we didn't reach an agreement.

"I told the police officers to wait a little. I went into the house where my children could not stop crying. I sent the dog to St Tropez and I returned 15 minutes later through the main door.

"What was the reaction of the police when they saw me? They asked me where I'd gone. My reply was 'Me, I'm the invisible man'.

"Obviously things got a bit heated. They accused me of obstructing the authorities and took me to the police station."

Mourinho claimed eight policemen turned up at his house, which he described as "a disgrace" in a country which was on high terrorism alert.

He added: "My children are more or less calm because they know the dog is OK. But they are suffering because they can't have him near to them.

"I can now say that the affair is closed with the police because I have repeated my willingness to provide whoever is in charge all the documents relating to the dog.

"If they wanted to be honest and look at the documentation, all good and well.

"I would go to the end of the world to give the documents in, because of the dog and the circus that sprung up around my family.

"All this is happening only because the vet - who I have already talked with about this situation - has misunderstood things because I can prove that the animal has all the documents in order.

"The dog was bought in England, the dog was vaccinated in England, and the dog is registered with one of the best vets in London. The dog never went to Portugal as the vet has in their head."

Although Mourinho believes the matter is now closed, the City of London Corporation, which is responsible for animal welfare across the capital, said it was still investigating a possible breach of the Animal Health Act 1981 and the Rabies Order 1974, and still intended to "detain the dog pending further inquiries".

Under the EU-wide pet passport scheme, dogs can travel within the EU six months after they have been vaccinated against rabies and blood-tested to check they are clear of the disease.

If Mourinho is found to have breached the rules, he could face an unlimited fine or up to one year in jail.

Yesterday Chelsea refused to discuss what had happened to the unnamed dog, but a friend of Mourinho said: "He phoned his driver when he went out of the house, and the driver came round and took the dog away, simple as that."

Mourinho has never been shy about admitting to his stunts - earlier this year he bragged about hiding in a laundry basket at Chelsea's ground to dodge a ban on attending a match aganist Bayern Munich.

 

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