拉斯维加斯：加拿大游客偷走酒店火烈鸟 Peachy 虐待动物两项罪名成立 12月1日量刑
位于内华达州克拉克县的拉斯维加斯，克拉克县陪审团10月19日裁定，34岁的加拿大安大略省居民 Mitchell Grant Fairbarn 一项重罪与一项轻罪虐待动物罪名成立。量刑定于12月1日举行，他目前处于软禁状态。
今年3月3日凌晨5时许，Fairbarn 在 Flamingo Las Vegas 酒店的野生动物栖息地内，抓住27岁的智利火烈鸟 Peachy 的腿和脖子，将其带到自己位于14楼的酒店房间。酒店员工随后在走廊找到 Peachy；警方称，这只火烈鸟掉了7至8根羽毛，羽毛带血，翅膀受伤。
在为期五天的审理中，检方出示了监控视频与社交媒体照片。Fairbarn 作证称，他前后约15分钟持有这只火烈鸟，本想带给朋友看、开个玩笑，无意伤害它；他称自己在事发前约24小时内喝了30至40杯啤酒。兽医 Tiffany Moore 作证称，Peachy 身体已基本康复，但接受检查时比以前更加焦虑紧张。
陪审团审议约5小时后作出有罪裁决。辩护律师 Josh Tomsheck 称，Fairbarn 是在醉酒下作出错误决定、深表后悔，并无恶意。Fairbarn 重罪最高面临4年监禁，轻罪另可加6个月县监狱刑期；目前尚未量刑。Flamingo 酒店的火烈鸟栖息地是拉斯维加斯大道的免费景点之一。
（GSM 据 USA Today 及美联社报道）
Las Vegas: Canadian Tourist Convicted on Two Animal Cruelty Counts for Taking Flamingo Peachy, Sentencing Set for December 1
In Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, a Clark County jury on October 19 convicted Mitchell Grant Fairbarn, a 34-year-old resident of Ontario, Canada, of one felony and one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. Sentencing is set for December 1, and he remains on house arrest.
Around 5 a.m. on March 3, Fairbarn entered the wildlife habitat at the Flamingo Las Vegas hotel, grabbed Peachy, a 27-year-old Chilean flamingo, by the legs and neck, and carried the bird to his hotel room on the 14th floor. Hotel employees later found Peachy in a hallway; police said the flamingo had lost seven or eight feathers, had blood on its plumage and showed signs of wing injuries.
During the five-day trial, prosecutors presented surveillance video and social media photos. Fairbarn testified that he had the bird for about 15 minutes and had meant to show it to friends as a joke, with no intent to harm it; he said he had drunk 30 to 40 beers over roughly 24 hours before the incident. Veterinarian Tiffany Moore testified that Peachy has mostly recovered but is more anxious and nervous when being evaluated.
The jury deliberated for about five hours before returning the guilty verdicts. Defense attorney Josh Tomsheck said Fairbarn made bad decisions while intoxicated, deeply regretted them and did not mean to harm the bird. Fairbarn faces up to four years in prison on the felony count and up to six additional months in county jail on the misdemeanor; he has not yet been sentenced. The flamingo habitat at the Flamingo hotel is a free attraction on the Las Vegas Strip.
(GSM, based on reporting by USA TODAY and the Associated Press)
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：火烈鸟（资料图，非涉案的 Peachy 本人）/ Flamingo (file photo; not Peachy), Wilfredor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
