Singleton Man Convicted of Aggravated Animal Cruelty After Killing Plover Bird on Private Thornton Property Posted on October 7, 2024 A 31-year-old Singleton man has been convicted of committing an act of aggravated animal cruelty in relation to a charge that he used a whipper snipper to injure a nesting plover (a native bird), thereafter stomping on it, and finally killing it. The plover was familiar to the owners of the property, as it had been coming to the area to nest for several years. On 17 September 2024, the defendant pleaded at Maitland Local Court and was subsequently convicted and sentenced to a six-month Intensive Correction Order (ICO), to be served in the community An ICO is a sentence of imprisonment which is to be served in the Community subject to certain conditions. Following the conviction, the Local Court Magistrate disqualified the defendant from purchasing, acquiring, taking possession of or custody of an animal for a period of 5 years. In taking the defendant’s financial situation into account, the Magistrate declined to impose a fine or award costs to RSPCA NSW. The bird had been nesting on the grass outside before the man took to it with a whipper snipper (image: Shutterstock) On Tuesday, 14 November 2023, the defendant attended a property in Thornton, NSW, to undertake lawn mowing and garden maintenance duties. Whilst using a whipper snipper, he approached a nesting plover and struck the animal, causing significant injuries. He then stomped on the injured bird, attempted to break its neck and placed the bird into a nearby rubbish bin. A short time later, having realised that the plover was still alive, he retrieved the bird from the rubbish bin and again stomped on it and attempted to break its neck, before placing the animal into another nearby rubbish bin. On Friday, 17 November 2023, an RSPCA NSW Inspector attended the property in response to a complaint about the death of the bird. CCTV footage of the incident was observed, and the Inspector was provided with the remains of the deceased animal, which had been recovered from the rubbish bin by the resident of the address shortly after the incident. The remains were transported to an RSPCA NSW shelter, where a post-mortem examination of the bird was completed. In an interview with an RSPCA NSW Inspector, the man confirmed that he was the person in the CCTV footage and admitted to hitting the plover with a running whipper snipper but denied doing so intentionally. RSPCA Chief Inspector, Scott Meyers, condemned the behaviour, reminding the public that cruelty towards native Australian wildlife will not be tolerated. “Masked lapwings are native birds and are protected under the Biodiversity Conservation Act. This imposition of an Intensive Correction Order sends a clear message that unprovoked violence towards animals will not be tolerated. Plovers are known to be territorial whilst nesting, however this bird was not posing any risk to the defendant, or anyone else in the area, and had successfully nested in the area for years.” Information about nesting birds can be found here. Information on plovers as a protected species can be found here. All charges brought under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
