A YOUNG man who grabbed a rabbit from the petting corner at a zoo and fed it to the alligators was told yesterday to expect a jail sentence.Damien French, 20, laughed as he dropped the white rabbit from a balcony into a pond in the alligators' enclosure, where it was seized and eaten by a large male called Albert.
French, of Colwyn Bay, North Wales, was found guilty of cruelty after a day-long trial in Llandudno. Alan Roberts, chairman of the magistrates, told him that a custodial sentence was a "very likely" option. The offence carries a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment.
(Story from The Times.)
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Update 11th March 2006 -
Incidentally, Chris Jackson, the zoo's administrative director, said: “This is a salutary lesson to people who indulge in mindless attacks on defenceless animals."
Well. Should this guy really be going to prison?
OK, it wasn't a very nice thing to do, but presumably Albert and his mates do not survive on organic cucumbers? I would imagine that the zoo must feed them meat on a pretty regular basis, and so far as I know most meat comes from cute'n'cuddly little animawls - animals that get killed at some point, either at the hands of an abattoir-worker, or at the jaws of a crocodile.
Edward, my dear chap:
ReplyDeleteYour reasoning appears to be as follows: Some mammals suffer the unfortunate fate of being butchered for their meat. Ergo, it is acceptable, or at least not excessively reprehensible, to grab any old mammal (or young or middle-aged mammal, for that matter) and feed it to a crocodile. An unfortunate argument, especially coming from an Oxbridge graduate, which for some reason I take you to be. If you reflect on the fact that EG is also a mammal who will, at some point in time in the course of his travels, linger in the proximity of crocodile-infested waters, you may re-think your position. Mind you, we do hold Albert blameless.