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“It is clear this was not the act of a fox or a feral cat. These chickens were well cared for by the facility, and for someone to do this is beyond belief,” Inspector Allison Guthrie said.
In yet another case, two beloved ducks at Murrumburrah High School were found killed and mutilated on Thursday.
“Overnight, individuals gained unauthorised access to our school grounds and tortured, mutilated and killed our school ducks,” the school said in a statement.
Elizabeth and Philip, the royally named and very rare Saxony ducks, were reportedly beheaded after someone entered their enclosure.
“These animals have been subjected to a horrific act of cruelty,” acting Inspector Mark Lake said.
“It is clear that the ducks were well cared for by the facility, and for someone to do this is beyond belief.”
Philip and Elizabeth, the Saxony ducks, were beheaded in their enclosure. Credit: ABC News
Last month, a 20-year-old man was ordered to appear in Manly Local Court accused of running over kangaroos in his ute at Running Stream, outside Lithgow, in July.
Leo Boland, from Balgowlah Heights, did not appear in court to answer charges of torture, beating and seriously injuring animals after he allegedly ran down adult and baby kangaroos deliberately.
His acts were allegedly captured on CCTV.
None of the incidents are related.
Animal cruelty offences almost never result in prison time, the Bureau of Crime Research and Statistics says.
Between 132 and 170 offenders have been sentenced each year for the past five years, but only 4.2 per cent have gone to prison.
Instead, the local courts hand down fines in 36.5 per cent of cases and unsupervised community release in a further 34.6 per cent of cases.
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