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A Canadian tourist claimed he was sleep-deprived and hammered on dozens of beers when he snatched a beloved flamingo from a Las Vegas casino and took selfies with it, with his hands around its neck.
Mitchell Fairbarn, 34, is on trial for two counts of animal cruelty after he allegedly drunkenly stole “Peachy” the flamingo, from the Flamingo Hotel and Casino and carried him to his hotel room in March, Fox5 reported.
Fairbarn, a married father of three from central Ontario, testified in his own defense on Friday that he never meant to hurt Peachy — and rather snatched the 27-year-old majestic bird as a “silly prank joke” to photograph, the outlet reported.
The tourist, whose father had been recently diagnosed with cancer, decided to turn off his phone on March 2 for the first time in nine years to “let loose,” he said, KLAS reported.
Over the course of the day, Fairbarn pounded back an estimated 30 to 40 beers, walked down Las Vegas Boulevard, and gambled, he testified.
Fairbarn then turned back on his phone, made a Snapchat audio call to a work colleague, and stopped at the flamingo habitat while drunk and sleep-deprived at 5 a.m. the next day.
The boozehound, who said he was in Las Vegas for a global construction show, entered the habitat and sat with another flamingo, then decided to jokingly grab Peachy and carry the bird to his hotel room for “two or three minutes.”
Fairbarn then put the flamingo in the hallway and was arrested while changing to return it, he testified.
The dad was captured on surveillance footage, shown to the Clark County jury, grabbing Peachy out of the casino’s bird habitat, the outlet said.
“I thought it was something that we could joke about for the rest of our lives,” Fairbarn said.
“Did you ever, at any time, have any malicious intent or desire?” his attorney asked, per the outlet. “Did you intend to kill?”
“No,” Fairbarn responded.
Peachy had seven to eight missing feathers, broken shafts, and blood loss consistent with trauma after the ordeal, veterinarian Dr. Tiffany Moore previously testified.
The Chilean Flamingo needed antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and weeks of pain medicine to recover from its injuries.
During a cross-examination, Fairbarn admitted the surveillance video “doesn’t look good” and said he was “taking responsibility,” but claimed he had “no idea” how Peachy’s feathers went missing.
Fairbarn also testified that he has been on house arrest since the flamingo heist and hasn’t been able to return to Canada.
Prosecutors are expected to deliver closing statements on Monday.
