In brief
Mitchell Fairbarn was sentenced after taking a flamingo named Peachy from the Las Vegas hotel’s wildlife habitat while heavily intoxicated. Trial footage captured the bird with torn feathers and bleeding, evidence of animal cruelty. Fairbarn insisted it was a harmless prank but faces up to five years in prison. He remains on house arrest as sentencing is scheduled for December, while Peachy has recovered but is now more wary of humans.
A Canadian tourist, Mitchell Fairbarn, has been found guilty of animal cruelty after taking the Chilean flamingo named Peachy from the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino’s freely‑visited wildlife habitat.
During a drunken binge that lasted into the early hours of March, Fairbarn smuggled the bird into a hotel elevator and carried it into his room, despite barriers designed to protect the animals.
Trial footage showed Peachy with torn feathers and bleeding from the neck; a veterinarian confirmed the damage and noted the bird now displays heightened anxiety towards humans.
Defending the act as an innocuous prank, Fairbarn claimed he had drunk thirty to forty beers and had no intent to harm the bird; he faces up to five years in prison.
During the proceedings, 14 witnesses testified and over 112 pieces of evidence were reviewed, leading a jury to a verdict after roughly five hours of deliberation.
Fairbarn remains on house arrest in Las Vegas, with sentencing set for December, while Peachy has largely recovered but is now more wary of people.
As Fairbarn’s lawyer, Josh Tomsheck, put it, the incident was a drunken mistake, not a malicious act.
