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VETS AT BUSCH Gardens had to put down Pinky the dancing flamingo after a man grabbed her from an animal viewing area and threw her to the ground.
According to a police report, 45-year-old Joseph Anthony Corrao of Orlando was visiting the theme park with his family when he reached into a pen in the Jambo Junction area, picked up the flamingo and threw her down.
Police Spokesman Stephen Hegarty said Corrao handled the bird “violently”.
Corrao was detained by the park’s security and arrested by Tampa police on a charge of animal cruelty after witnesses said they saw him throw the flamingo.
A witness said Carrao was “plastered”and that his wife tried to move him away from the bird before he grabbed it, according to local website WKMG.
Busch Gardens said the bird suffered injuries so “traumatic” that she could not be saved.
“A very sad and hard day for us here,” said a park spokeswoman Karen Varga-Sinka.
Pinky was a Chilean flamingo hatched at the park 19 years ago, in 1996. Her dancing movements made her one of the park’s stars.
“Pinky loved to dance for our guests,” Varga-Sinka added. ”She will be sorely missed.”
Her keepers say that this is not a trained behaviour, but a natural behaviour she loved to show off.
“Flamingos are filter feeders, using their beaks to strain tasty morsels out of the water around them as they wade.
To stir up the tastiest treats, flamingos will stamp their webbed feet. Pinky often performed this toe-tapping behaviour out of the water for guests.
Beyond senseless
Pinky also appeared on behalf of the park’s conservation and education efforts as an “ambassador animal”.
The park has 20 flamingoes, a mix of Chilean and Caribbean.
Corrao was released from jail on a $2,000 bond, which was later raised to $5,000, according to WKMG.
Judge John Conrad said Corrao’s actions were “beyond senseless”.
It actually borders on depraved.
“Mr Corrao, I don’t know if you have other issues.
I don’t know who does that, I really don’t - I don’t relate to that on any level.
Corrao previously served three years in prison in Florida after being convicted of aggravated assault on a person 65 years or older, felony DUI, and fleeing from a law enforcement officer.
Multiple witnesses claim he threw the flamingo down with such force that the bird’s foot was severed.
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Father of two . Oh no
S3umbag
This guy clearly isn’t a Brain.
You obviously don’t get ironic humour as was the great comic duo of our era pinky and the brain from animaniacs
Although I’m clearly making a reference to that cartoon. Maybe you aren’t either, matey. ;p
I’m not so sure you were. If you were I’m pretty sure you’d have said “he’s not THE brain”. Anyway let’s not get bogged down in technicalities. I’m not the pedantic sort.
Wield that sword!
Be still the shaking hand of Damocles!
Only trying to lighten the mood for such a heinous crime. I stand defeated and unarmed. Have mercy
Please stop fighting
Interesting to see what sentence he gets. They don’t take animal cruelty too lightly in the States, unlike this disgraceful country where serial animal abusers get a slap on the wrist.
I beg to differ – look what goes on in Sea World, in the guise of entertainment. It is downright cruelty. Along with their beef & pork industry, I would say the US is very lenient on animal cruelty.
A bad man.
Doesn’t matter how broke up you are, to do an act like that requires an element of badness. Chap needs to be looked at.
I’m glad it happened in the states as he’ll get hammered over there!
I’m not glad it happened at all. Although you can’t legislate for morons.
Why is one life worth more than another, seriously? Why is that flamingos life worth more than a cow or a pig that will be slaughtered for food? People condemn this kind of act when it is one animal, but they don’t bat an eyelid when 1000s of animals are slaughtered on a daily basis so people can eat them.
He was already hammered
Because we all we see is the end product on a supermarket shelf. If we were all forced to bear witness to animals packed into trucks & watch as they stand in line watching their herd members being slaughtered, maybe we’d all think twice before eating meat
Spot on Aideen. It’s a shame that people are so disconnected from the food on their plate. There is a documentary called Earthlings on YouTube. It would really make people reconsider eating meat if they watched it.
Already been done Aideen, There’s a TV Show called Kill it Cook it Eat it from the BBC, Very informative it shows how an actual abattoir works they set one up in a studio invite an audience in and show them the whole process from live animal walking it, it being slaughtered to ending up on your dinner plate then at the end of the show they cook the animal and then ask the studio audience to eat it, To see if what they’ve just witnessed would change how they view animals.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006ywpr/episodes/guide
I’d warn anyone wanting to watch it its not for the faint hearted its not censored in any way at all. its brutal and bloody to watch
Trailer trash probably felt threatened by something with an IQ higher than his.
Busch Gardens, Tampa Florida, part of the SeaWorld group. If you’re uncertain of what cruelty this company has caused animals to suffer in the past and does to this day, you should watch Blackfish, available to view on Netflix.
100% agree
For a country with the death penalty they could do worse than to use it on this fellow. What a disgusting person.
Oh well kids, this is how you treat other animals. Fk their feelings or lives. I mean who gives a continental s h i t, right? It’s just a defenseless bird. Who cares. Fk A – hole!
#flamingolivesmatter
Flaming olives matter
RIP Pinky.
The last whirling dervish flamingo on the planet.
Now a jailbird, how ironic
Goßshite
pinky flamingo nick name will stick to him in prison )))
a subhuman thing to do
What in the name of God possesed him to do that. Say that was some hangover the next morning. Poor bird.
Is there anything the americans won`t try and kill?
Untermensch!
Pinky and the brain brain brain….brain!
Pity he couldn’t be put down
What a vicious thug.he should be jailed.
This would be the kind of yeee-haaa that has an assault gun to protect himself.
Except he’s previously been convicted of a felony so no (legally held) guns for that s€umbag.
Fat American pig should be flogged!
I’d love to dance on his big fat head
Pity the vets couldn’t do the same to him.
Certainly not of sound mind A dangerous man to be allowed walk the streets, Wouldn’t like to have him living on my street.
This, L&G is a kunnt.
This is a classic example of why the US tried to enforce the prohibition of alcohol. It was a total failure, of course, but imagine the world without drunken aggression/stupidity.
There are also some countries with a total alcohol ban that experience much non-drunken aggression and stupidity!
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