A Canadian visitor told a Las Vegas jury that he was severely sleep-deprived and had consumed dozens of beers when he took a popular casino flamingo, posed for selfies with the bird and placed his hands around its neck.
Mitchell Fairbarn, 34, is facing two animal-cruelty charges over the alleged March theft of “Peachy,” a flamingo at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. Prosecutors say he removed the bird from its habitat and carried it to his hotel room, according to Fox5.
Testifying in his own defense Friday, Fairbarn said he never intended to injure Peachy. The married father of three from central Ontario described the incident as a foolish prank meant only to produce a photograph, the outlet reported.
Fairbarn said his father had recently received a cancer diagnosis, prompting him to switch off his phone on March 2 for the first time in nine years so he could “let loose,” according to KLAS.
He testified that he drank roughly 30 to 40 beers throughout the day, strolled along the Las Vegas Strip and spent time gambling.
At about 5 a.m. the following morning, Fairbarn turned his phone back on, made an audio call through Snapchat to a colleague and visited the casino’s flamingo habitat. He said he was intoxicated and running on very little sleep.
The tourist, who was in Las Vegas for an international construction convention, said he entered the enclosure and sat near another flamingo. He then decided to pick up Peachy as a joke and carry the bird to his room, intending to keep him there for “two or three minutes.”
Fairbarn testified that he eventually left the flamingo in the hotel hallway and was arrested while changing clothes to take the bird back.
Surveillance video played for the Clark County jury appears to show Fairbarn reaching into the casino’s habitat and removing Peachy, according to the report.
“I thought it was something that we could joke about for the rest of our lives,” Fairbarn told the court.
His attorney asked whether he had ever acted with malicious intent or wanted to kill the flamingo, according to the outlet.
“No,” Fairbarn replied.
Veterinarian Dr. Tiffany Moore previously testified that Peachy suffered seven or eight missing feathers, broken feather shafts and blood loss consistent with traumatic injury after the incident.
The Chilean flamingo required antibiotics, anti-inflammatory treatment and several weeks of pain medication during its recovery.
Under cross-examination, Fairbarn acknowledged that the surveillance footage “doesn’t look good” and said he was “taking responsibility.” However, he maintained that he did not know how Peachy’s feathers had been pulled out.
Fairbarn also said he has remained under house arrest since the alleged flamingo theft and has been unable to travel back to Canada.
Prosecutors are scheduled to present their closing arguments Monday.
