A Canadian man was convicted of animal cruelty charges Monday for snatching a flamingo named Peachy from its enclosure at an iconic Las Vegas hotel.
Prosecutors said it was a malicious prank while a lawyer for the tourist insisted it was drunken foolishness not meant to harm the bird.
Prosecutors said tourist Mitchell Fairbarn hurt and frightened the 27-year-old Chilean flamingo when he took it from its habitat at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino and carried the squawking bird to his room on March 3.
He testified that he spent March 2 drinking and gambling, estimating he consumed between 30 and 40 beers before arriving at the Flamingo’s wildlife habitat at around 5am the following morning.
Defence attorney Josh Tomsheck told jurors at trial in a Nevada court that the man deeply regretted the 'bad decisions' he made while intoxicated.
Fairbarn said he entered the enclosure after noticing a bird whose wings appeared uneven, although he acknowledged he should not have gone inside.
Fairbarn claimed he initially sat beside a different flamingo before picking up Peachy to take a photograph as part of what he called a ‘silly pranky joke’.
He said he carried the bird to his hotel room for ‘two or three minutes’ before leaving it in the hallway. He was arrested while changing, he told the court, as he prepared to return the animal.
Mitchell Fairbarn, 34, took the stand in his animal cruelty trial and repeatedly denied he meant to hurt Peachy the Flamingo when he carried him to his hotel room March 3
The Ontario businessman claimed he drank between 30 and 40 beers before entering the Flamingo hotel’s wildlife habitat at around 5am and abducting a flamingo from a habitat at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas
When asked whether he had noticed any injuries or blood on his shirt or the wall while handling Peachy, he answered: ‘No.’ He maintained that he had not seen anything wrong with the bird when he removed it from the enclosure.
He confirmed that he walked through bushes while carrying the flamingo and said he removed his shirt to wrap around the bird as he left the habitat, explaining that he wanted to avoid startling the other flamingos.
After about five hours of deliberations, jurors returned convictions on felony and misdemeanour animal cruelty counts against the Ontario, Canada, man.
Fairbarn remains under house arrest pending a sentencing hearing set for December 1.
He faces up to four years in prison for the felony and possibly six more months for the misdemeanour conviction.
Following the verdict, he declined to comment as he left the courtroom with his wife. He showed no visible emotion.
His lawyer also had no comment.
Fairbarn, who has three children, said he had travelled to Las Vegas to attend ConExpo, an international construction exhibition, where he had been asked to represent Canada. He described growing up on farms, where he developed experience around animals.
He also told the court that he owns dogs and a parrot named Sonny and had previously rescued an abandoned llama and six ducks.
In Snapchat footage, a shirtless Fairbarn can be seen wrangling the bird by the neck and legs
He admitted the bird was hurt but insisted he did not know how it lost its feathers. Closing arguments are expected on Monday before the jury begins deliberations
Police said they later found a 'large bloody feather' while animal control claims Peachy suffered a wing injury due to the wing being 'pulled' from its body
Since the incident, the flamingo has been doing all right physically but is more anxious and nervous when being evaluated, said Peachy's veterinarian, Tiffany Moore, medical director of Lone Mountain Animal Hospital.
Prosecutors told jurors earlier that Fairbarn wilfully caused the bird physical pain, noting feathers were found on the hotel floor.
Video showed the bird squawking while Fairbarn handled it and prosecutors said Peachy felt pain when it was pulled by its feet.
Video played at the trial showed Fairbarn holding the flamingo in an elevator and carrying it down a hotel hallway at the famous hotel.
The Flamingo is one of the oldest hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, and its well-known flamingo habitat also features hummingbirds, turtles, koi and other species.
Las Vegas police responded to the scene after security staff reported someone had taken the flamingo. When Peachy was located, it was missing seven to eight feathers, had blood on its feathers and injuries to its wings, authorities said.
Taking the bird was 'dumb' and 'fuelled by drunkenness', the defence attorney Mr Tomsheck said. But he added that his client never intended any harm to the bird, a key element in the felony charge.
'He should not have done that, should not have gone into the habitat, shouldn't have touched a bird, shouldn't have taken Peachy inside,' Mr Tomsheck said. 'The truth is, Mitch was drunk. Mitch was stupid. He made bad decisions.'
Fairbarn could be seen in court at one point with head lowered, hands covering his eyes.
The man had received death threats after taking the flamingo, and he was unable to leave the US when his father died while Fairbarn was awaiting trial, said Clark County prosecutor Haley Willming.
While those events were unfortunate, the prosecutor said, 'none of that would have happened had he not done what he did, had he not made the choices he made.'
Jurors began deliberating shortly before midday after closing arguments on Monday morning.
Nevada animal rights advocate John Waudby, who recently helped strengthen the state's animal cruelty laws, said he believes justice was delivered on Peachy's behalf.
'I hope this sends a message to anybody else that wants to mess with our animals, that you're not going to do it in Nevada,' he said outside the courtroom after Monday's verdict.