A Port Stephens tourist attraction operator has praised a magistrate for defending much-loved chicken Betty White, who was grabbed by grandfather Peter Smith and thrown into an alligator pen.

Kent Sansom, owner of Oakvale Wildlife Park at Salt Ash, said justice had been served on Wednesday 20 November when the 58-year-old was placed on a nine-month intensive correction order, rather than just being fined for animal cruelty.

Magistrate Justin Peach said Smith had watched an alligator kill the chicken for his own pleasure and nothing else.

“There is a degree, in my view, of sadism in part of this act,” he told the Hunterview man, who was visibly shaking before being sentenced with an intensive corrections order and 100 hours of community service.

Outside Raymond Terrace Local Court after Smith’s sentencing, Mr Sansom said Betty White had been a vital part of the park’s breeding program and was greatly missed.

“She was a great mother for rearing young chicks,” he said.

Mr Sansom described Smith’s actions as callous.

“It was purely for his enjoyment to see that animal die in front of him,” he said.

“It was wrong.”

Smith had pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated animal cruelty on 2 January, but claimed he just wanted to feed the chicken to an alligator because it looked hungry.

He 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 2.4 metre-long alligators were lurking.

One of the predators snapped the chicken up into its mouth, killing it instantly, as he watched on.

Defence lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court 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.

He added his client had become desensitised to chickens and just viewed them as a food source.

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.

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