A wildlife park owner 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 in the NSW Hunter region, said justice had been served on Wednesday when Smith 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,” Mr Peach told Smith, 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. It was wrong," he said.
Smith, 58, of Hunterview, had pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated animal cruelty on January 2, but claimed he just wanted to feed the chicken to an alligator because it looked hungry.
He 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 2.4 metre-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 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 Smith 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 that Betty White had died instantly and was not 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, saying Betty White had been a much-loved domesticated, hand-raised chicken used as part of 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 declined to comment outside court.
