Grandfather Peter Smith has been handed a non-custodial sentence for an act of “sadism” when he grabbed a much-loved chicken known as Betty White at a Port Stephens tourist attraction… and threw it into an alligator pen.
He had watched the predator kill the fowl for his own viewing pleasure and nothing else, Magistrate Justin Peach said on Wednesday 20 November in Raymond Terrace Local Court.
“There is a degree, in my view, of sadism in part of this act,” Mr Peach told Smith, who was visibly shaking as the sentence was being handed down.
He was ordered to serve a nine-month intensive correction order and perform 100 hours of community service.
Smith, 58, had pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated animal cruelty on 2 January at the Oakvale Wildlife Park at Salt Ash but claimed he just wanted to feed the chicken to an alligator because it looked hungry.
The Hunterview man had reached over a concrete rock wall and grabbed the white Chinese silkie bantam chook from its enclosure before putting it inside his shirt.
Smith then walked through the reptile exhibit towards the alligator enclosure before throwing Betty White into the pond where two 2.4m-long alligators were lurking.
One of the alligators snapped the chicken up into its mouth, killing it instantly, as Smith watched on.
Defence lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court on Wednesday Smith was a grandfather, had no criminal record and had grown up on a farm where he used to catch and kill animals to eat.
Mr Wrench said his client had become desensitised to chickens and just viewed them as a food source.
The defence lawyer said more than a million chickens were killed each year for food consumption… and noted Betty White had died instantly and not been tortured or maimed.
Mr Wrench suggested an argument could be made that the alligator involved was guilty of animal cruelty, not Smith.
Mr Peach warned the defence lawyer not to advance that argument, stating Betty White had been a much-loved domesticated, hand-raised chicken used in the park’s breeding program.
The magistrate said park staff had been distressed over the chicken’s fate and he viewed the offence as just above the mid-range of animal cruelty.
A psychological report revealed Smith came from a good family and was a member of a religious community with a strong moral code.
Mr Peach said Smith claimed he put the chicken inside his shirt because he believed others at the park might view what he was doing poorly and be offended because of political correctness.
“You made a grave error,” the magistrate told the shaking Smith.
“Your attitude towards domestic animals needs significant introspection.”
Smith refused to comment outside court.
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