A teenager who stabbed a pet cockatiel in a temper then told police “it’s just a bird, it’s not a crime” has been given a ban from keeping animals.
Aaron Ray, 18, was also handed a suspended 12-week jail term after the barbaric attack in which he killed the bird at an address in South Hylton, Sunderland, in January.
When Northumbria Police attended reports of a disturbance, they found the cockatiel dead.
Police said Ray, of Mayfield Road, Sunderland, appeared before South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on Friday (June 26) where he was handed a 12-week jail term, suspended for a year, after he admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
He was also banned from keeping animals for 15 years.
Wildlife officer Pc Peter Baker said: “We are a nation of animal lovers, so it is upsetting to come across incidents such as this where the defendant has caused inevitable and unnecessary suffering to an animal.
“I hope this conviction acts as a serious lesson to others – anybody who causes unnecessary suffering to an animal could face criminal action and a possible jail term.”
