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A grey parrot at the Sachsenhagen Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo: Holger Hollemann/ dpa
They doused a parrot with furniture polish and paint, put the bird in a tumble dryer and wanted to feed "Sparky" to a dog: Because they killed a gray parrot in agony, two women in Great Britain have to go to jail. A court in the northwestern English city of Carlisle sentenced the defendants, aged 35 and 47, to 25 months in prison each for causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
The women had denied the allegations and blamed each other. They are now never allowed to keep a pet again. Prosecutor Dan Bramhall spoke of sadistic behavior. Judge Richard Archer said the act was "frankly incomprehensible."
"Sparky's" owner had let the women spend the night with him after a boozy evening on July 30, 2022. When he went shopping the next morning, the animal abusers attacked the bird, which was said to be able to sing the British national anthem and theme tunes of TV soap operas. The man has been suffering from anxiety, panic attacks and sleep disorders since the crime.
SWE/DPA