Abbotsford Police are cautioning folks about sending loved ones moose meat care packages after officers scrambled to investigate a suspicious parcel leaking blood on Monday night.

A man called the APD around midnight saying a smelly, bloody package had been delivered to his house.

"It was the blood that took him for a loop," said Const. Ian MacDonald.

"And legitimately, if you've got a package leaking blood, I think you can put a check mark beside 'suspicious.'"

Officers arrived and the package was gingerly opened to reveal a mess of rotting moose meat, mackerel and scallops, said MacDonald.

Police managed to contact the sender of the package, who turned out to be an elderly relative in Newfoundland.

The man had good-heartedly wanted to send his relatives some of the local bounty.

"He'd written, 'keep frozen' on the package but it took several days to arrive, and when it did, it was a bloody stinky mess," said MacDonald.

Apparently, the sender was very sorry to have caused any kind of ruckus.

"He was very apologetic that he'd caused all this trouble," said MacDonald.

"The feedback from [APD] members was that it was pretty gross and smelly, but everybody was relieved it was something explainable without having to resort to the Criminal Code."

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RBaker@abbotsfordtimes.com