A Canadian tourist was convicted Monday of felony and misdemeanor animal cruelty in Clark County after a jury found he removed a flamingo from its enclosure at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino and carried it, injured, through the property.
Mitchell Fairbarn, of Ontario, Canada, was found guilty after jurors deliberated for about five hours, according to The Associated Press. The case centers on a March 3 incident in which Fairbarn took a 27-year-old Chilean flamingo named Peachy from its habitat and brought the bird up to his hotel room.
Surveillance video shown at trial captured Fairbarn holding the flamingo in an elevator and carrying it down a hallway while it squawked. Prosecutors told jurors the footage showed him pulling Peachy by its feet and feathers, and pointed to feathers found scattered on the hotel floor as evidence he caused the bird deliberate pain.
Hotel security reported the flamingo missing from its enclosure, prompting a call to Las Vegas police. When officers located Peachy, the bird was missing seven or eight feathers, had blood on its feathers, and had suffered wing injuries.
Fairbarn’s defense attorney, Josh Tomsheck, did not dispute that his client’s conduct was reckless but argued there was no intent to harm the animal.
“He should not have done that, should not have gone into the habitat, shouldn’t have touched a bird, shouldn’t have taken Peachy inside,” Tomsheck told jurors. “The truth is, Mitch was drunk. Mitch was stupid. He made bad decisions.”
Tiffany Moore, medical director of Lone Mountain Animal Hospital, which treated Peachy, said the bird is doing well physically but has become more anxious during veterinary exams since the incident.
Prosecutors acknowledged during the trial that Fairbarn received death threats after the incident became public and was unable to return to Canada when his father died while the case was pending. Clark County prosecutor Haley Willming told jurors those consequences flowed from his own conduct.
“None of that would have happened had he not done what he did, had he not made the choices he made,” Willming said.
Fairbarn remains under house arrest ahead of sentencing on Dec. 1. He faces up to four years in prison on the felony conviction and an additional six months on the misdemeanor charge.
The Flamingo Las Vegas, one of the Strip’s oldest resorts, maintains a wildlife habitat on its grounds that houses flamingos, turtles, koi and other animals.
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