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Canadian accused of Las Vegas flamingo theft, torture pleads not guilty
The Canadian man accused of abusing a flamingo he took from his Las Vegas hotel’s habitat in an alleged attempt to pop the animal’s supposedly dislocated wing back into place has pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges.
The 33-year-old tourist from Brampton, Ont., appeared in a Nevada district courtroom Tuesday to enter his plea, according to local FOX5 and CBS8 news affiliates.
The man, who had already been ordered to surrender his passport and remain in Nevada until court proceedings concluded, was making just his second appearance in court since the March 3 incident at the Flamingo Las Vegas, a 28-storey hotel on the Strip.
His first came in early June, when, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal , defence attorney Josh Tomsheck successfully petitioned Judge Tara Clark Newberry for a two-week delay while he met with state prosecutors about a potential resolution to the case. Court records obtained by National Post indicate a further two-week delay was sought in late June.
On the accused’s return to court this week, Tomsheck did not elaborate on the reasons for his client’s plea, the Review-Journal reported.
According to arrest reports, footage from the scene shows a shirtless man hopping the habitat’s fence — injuring two birds in the process — before grabbing another bird by its long legs, pulling it to the ground, pinning it to prevent its escape and making off with it.
Additional elevator surveillance footage shows the man, accompanied by another man, returning to his hotel room with the 27-year-old bird named Peachy.
“He stole one of the flamingo birds,” a resort security supervisor told 911 in a call obtained by FOX5 . “It’s kind of serious stuff.”
Security personnel, who had already detained the man, told police he spent about eight minutes inside the habitat with Peachy and five other birds from the Chilean subspecies — Blackjack, Bugsy, Pitbull, Omega and Bubbalicious.
After his arrest, the man allegedly told police he was drunk and didn’t recall chasing the animals, but said his goal was to assist one that appeared to have a damaged wing.
“He stated he knows that ‘popping’ the wing back into its place (is) a common practice for birds, such as ducks,” police said, CBS8 reported in March. “He has knowledge of this because he is a farm boy.”
Upon his arrest in March, the Review-Journal noted that he indicated in court papers that he earns more than CAD$100,000 monthly.
Photos and video recovered from the man’s phone show him torturing the animal and stating that he’s going to take it back to Canada. In one video, the Review Journal reported, he chokes the bird’s neck as it cries out.
Police also found a “large bloody feather” in the accused’s hotel room.
According to an arrest report obtained by KTNV , the man’s alleged veterinary efforts pulled the appendage out of Peachy’s body and caused a blood supply rupture. An actual veterinarian later said all the birds were expected to fully recover from their injuries.
The man, who’s been free on a US$12,000 bond since March, is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Oct. 6, with a jury trial set for Oct. 12 on four felony counts.
National Post has contacted Tomsheck for comment.
As previously reported by Casino.org , a UC Berkeley law student was convicted in 2012 of beheading a guinea fowl on the property and was sentenced to probation. Meanwhile, in 2005, police, accompanied by a camera crew from the TV show Cops, prevented two drunk men from stealing a flamingo from the enclosure.
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