A very sad story this, i will update with what happened to the man in court once i know.
A 67-year-old Randolph man is accused of using a BB gun to kill the family pet of 20 years — an African grey parrot named “Mikey” — because the creature annoyed him while he watched a NASCAR race.
The township’s animal control officer has charged Dennis Zeglin with several counts of animal cruelty related to the alleged, June 7 shooting of Mikey around 4:30 p.m.
Zeglin’s wife summoned police to the house, and they were met outside by Zeglin’s adult son, who told them he covered the bird with a sheet and took it outside where he intended to bury it. The bird, instead, was autopsied by a veterinarian.
Zeglin’s wife told police she was in an upstairs room of the home when she heard three shots. She stated she went downstairs and saw the dead parrot and her husband in his living room chair, police reports said.
The wife said she called her husband “a crazy S.O.B.,” but told police no argument or confrontation had occurred in the household before the BB gun was fired.
The alleged shooter was sitting in a chair in his living room when police walked in, and reached behind the chair to hand them a Daisy Powerline Model 93, CO2-powered BB gun he later admitted to using to kill Mikey, according to a police report.
Zeglin told a township animal control officer, Norma Jacobs, that he shot Mikey in its cage because the bird irritated him while he was watching television, reports said. Authorities advised the father and his son that if another family pet — a Labrador Retriever — annoys anybody they should call police or the animal control office, reports said.
Defense attorney Stephen Fletcher said his client was watching a NASCAR race at the time — the NASCAR Sprint Series Pocono 500 took place on that date — and was intoxicated. Since the animal cruelty charges were filed, Zeglin has undergone counseling to address alcoholism, Fletcher said.
“The parrot was probably doing what parrots do — squawking and making a ruckus. But this was probably less about what the parrot was doing than Mr. Zeglin’s alcohol problem,” Fletcher said.
Zeglin has applied for admission into the county’s Pre-Trial Intervention program, a probationary program for first time offenders, and is next due in court on Sept. 9.
i think this is absolutely shocking..!!!!!!
how can any1 do this to a beautiful african grey…???
i hope he gets locked up and they throw away the key
Evil f***er this sicko needs to be locked up and shot
i totaly agree with steve.i have a african grey cald ice.but i lost one called charlie i got him at 6 mounths,a girl and her boyfreind had owned him first,i got him because he was so nervas he was fritend if you moved a news paper to fast,i could only use a feather duster when i coverd his cage.he came on my shoulder after about hour of talking to him from the drop bit at the top of his cage,the pet shop said the first owners had spit up so they didnt want him.wich brock my heart.i had him for 4 years he stoped eating,i took him to my vet they said there wasent much wrong with him which i new there was,i ended up takeing him to a avian vet he cheqed him over done x rays he got throug that. the shock wasent over,he aways had a wing that the feathes wouldent grow.i beleave dont clip wings if you dont need to.well my vet told me he had about 5 very old breaks.in his poor little body,that tour me apart,i always spoilt him his cage was ony closed when i went out.wich wasent very often i loved be with him.the vet avised me to let him go to sleep he found a tumer close to his little heart.it made him laim in both his feet.i didnt want to becouse i loved him so much.it cut me into.i coudled him whie he went so he new i loved to the end.my husbund just brook down in the car park.we both cryed & cryed all the way home & all over christmas and weeks after.even now sometimes i have a cry & my husband.i thught about i for a while.silly as it seems i ask charlie would he mind if i got a nother.it turned sunny for half an hour.then weather tuned rotten again.the day i found ice it was rotten weather but all the way to pick him up it was sunny.he never talked when we go him,he was 3 & half,he is now almost 4 yes he is spoilt,he talks now ,he wont go on my shoulder but he mite in time.yes we love him so much.he didnt have his wings cliped & in not going to. im not againsed it.i just dont like it for my sweatheart.charie is still with me in his own carved box.he gets a kiss godnight i kiss my hand and place his kiss on his box.when i go when im older & its my time he will go with me.like steve thats how i feel about charlies last owners.