Zoo intruder fed rabbit to 'hungry-looking' alligator

Britain

The Times March 10, 2006

Zoo intruder fed rabbit to 'hungry-looking' alligator
By Russell Jenkins

A YOUNG man who grabbed a rabbit from the petting corner at a zoo and fed it to the alligators was told yesterday to expect a jail sentence.

Damien French, 20, laughed as he dropped the white rabbit from a balcony into a pond in the alligators’ enclosure, where it was seized and eaten by a large male called Albert.

French, of Colwyn Bay, North Wales, was found guilty of cruelty after a day-long trial in Llandudno. Alan Roberts, chairman of the magistrates, told him that a custodial sentence was a “very likely” option. The offence carries a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment. Sentencing was deferred until April 5.

The magistrates were told that French and two younger friends scaled a wall to get into the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay last October. They wandered around for several hours before entering the alligator house, where a large sign explained that the creatures fed on small mammals in the wild.

He told his friends that “he must be hungry” before going to the petting corner, where small animals are kept for children to handle. He reached across the fence, picked up one of two large rabbits by its ears and carried it to the the alligator house, where he stood on the balcony and dangled it over the pond.

When he dropped the rabbit, Albert, one of two alligators in the enclosure, killed it and held the carcass clamped between his jaws. A young girl walked in and asked: “Is that a rabbit?” The three youths laughed as one replied: “It was. It was running about ten minutes ago.”

After leaving the alligator house, the three also threw a lit cigarette at a chimpanzee and French was seen reaching into the arctic fox enclosure.

French, who is unemployed, denied animal cruelty. He told police that it was the younger of his two friends, then aged 14, who had been responsible.

He said: “We were all laughing. I was laughing just because of the shock of it happening. I found it funny at the time but I feel pretty bad about it now. It is not a nice thing to have happened. I felt as guilty as the others just for being there, but I did not touch the rabbit.”

But the other boys blamed French and suggested he was angry that the rabbit had scratched his new jacket. One boy, now 16, said: “We were in the alligator house and Damien said, ‘He looks hungry’. He went into the other place, climbed on to a ledge and leant over and he grabbed one of the rabbits by its ears. He said he was going to throw it to the alligators. I said, ‘Don’t throw it in’, but he did.”

Chris Jackson, the zoo’s administrative director, said: “This is a salutary lesson to people who indulge in mindless attacks on defenceless animals. I am pleased with the verdict and the way the police and Crown Prosecution Service pursued the case.”