[Animals] Man killed pet rabbit after it bit him - court

[Angel of Death]

A man who killed a pet rabbit after claiming the animal had bitten him has been given a suspended prison sentence and banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

Andrew West was caught on a hidden camera at a house in Sheffield picking up the grey lop-eared rabbit by his neck and forcefully throwing the animal down towards the ground.

The city's magistrates court heard that the 30-year-old was interviewed by the RSPCA and immediately admitted the offence. In mitigation they were told he suffered from severe ADHD and had not not taking his medication at the time.

A vet said it was "one of the most disturbing cases of violence" he had seen.

The upsetting footage, which was captured from the bedroom of a house in Adrian Crescent in Sheffield on 29 August 2023, was passed to the RSPCA which then launched an investigation.

At a sentencing hearing, Sheffield Magistrates' Court heard that RSPCA officers, accompanied by police, had gone to the property on 31 August last year after several video clips had been passed to the charity. 

In one of them West can be seen grabbing the pet named Milo, and saying to him, “You’re never going to hurt me again, do you understand?”

Further footage showed the rabbit, which didn’t belong to him, being flung on the floor by West before being found dead a short time later.

The court heard that when he was asked by the RSPCA why he was heard in one of the video clips saying, “Oh yeah you're going to get it," he said this meant he wanted to hurt Milo because he was angry with the rabbit for biting him, but he had not intended to kill it.

'Extremely cruel'

In mitigation two references provided to the court attested to his "kind personality" and "love of animals".

At a sentencing hearing at Sheffield Magistrates' Court on 26 July, he was handed an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal. 

A post-mortem report indicated the rabbit had been suffering from a brain infection called E cuniculi, a common infection in rabbits which can, in some cases, lead to seizures or death.

A vet who viewed the video footage and gave written evidence in the case, said: “Regardless of the post-mortem findings we can safely say that the individual in the footage was extremely cruel and violent towards Milo.

"Through his callous actions he has blatantly caused a great deal of pain, stress, fear and unnecessary suffering. 

"This is one of the most disturbing cases of violence towards a helpless animal that I have had the misfortune to witness.”

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnvyyz3m132o