We have yet another case of a pet paying for the bad relationship of humans. Richard J. Atkinson, 63, pleaded guilty to stabbing the parrot, Bailey, of his former girlfriend with a serving fork. He then trashed the house. For the crime, he has received a six month jail sentence.
His counsel blamed a mix of anti-anxiety medication with whiskey and later “felt horrible” about the bird’s demise.
Superior Court Judge George Appel also forbade Atkinson from owning or possessing animals for five years for such a “depraved” act. I expect most animals would find five years as an uncomfortably short period.
The question is whether his former girlfriend will also sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress. We discussed this very subject yesterday with regard to an Alabama lawyers alleged killing of the family dog in a bitter divorce. Bailey was 18 years old at the time of his untimely death. That is an excellent basis for an intentional infliction claim.
Source: Herald Net
I might add I imagine a factor in any intentional infliction claim would be that the parrot was 18 years old and if that amount of time it was owned by the victim, the victim might have a more provable claim since the parrot was an intregal part of her life and her attachment after 18 years would be great.
I have seen a number of people who had much emotional affect by the death of a pet they have had for many years, in that it was as great as the loss of a close human friend.
Grief is the same in many cases.
I agree that the ex should sue this idiot for as much as she can get. Any pet that is part of your family for 18 years is going to have a serious emotional closeness. And to have it shattered by an intentional killing is just disgusting. 6 months is not enough time in jail for me.
Just b/c the bird was 18 doesn’t mean he spent all those years with one person. She may have had him for only 6 months.
At least the jerk is getting some jail time.
That guy is crazy. Don’t people know that works that are bad will get a person a lot worse than jail time? Had they known this the bad works would not be done.
Alcohol….. And medication….. Hmmmmmmm……
he should be sentenced to watch the movie Paulie.
Anonymously Yours 1, November 29, 2012 at 8:18 am
Alcohol….. And medication….. Hmmmmmmm……
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Yep, never mix medicine with medication.
Blast him in the ears with cherry bombs and ruin his hearing. That way he cant complain about noise again. If he did not like the parrot’s looks then you will have to blind him. Blind and deaf would be suitable for the crime.
Alfred Hitchcock would have a good answer for this man’s actions.
His counsel blamed a mix of anti-anxiety medication with whiskey and later “felt horrible” about the bird’s demise.
Ok, that is a mitigating circumstance………let him have magazines in prison.
The best thing this girl can do is get a restraning order aganist this nut and be done with him
“Alfred Hitchcock would have a good answer for this man’s actions.”
Lock him in a cage on a set and throw
Tippi Hedronbirds at him for turning down Hitch’s sexual advances?While not a legal punishment, it does have a certain karmic appeal to it.
Gene, I’m looking forward to the biopic.
@bettykath: The article states that the girlfriend had the bird for 18 years. My parents were very attached to their pet birds, all of which (whom?) were several notches below parrots in both intelligence and ability to interact. I can only imagine that she was devastated, given not only the horrible means of death and the length of time she’d had the bird, but also the fact that a parrot’s usual lifespan is several decades.
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