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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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A violent beating seems a reasonable and proportional response
@Cian Nolan: agree totally with you
@Cian Nolan: This is the kind of thing they should bring back the medieval stock for. Have the townsfolk throw rotten veggies at them
@Cian Nolan:
That equally wrong – “violent beating” ????
@JusticeForJoe: That was the next thing I was going to say. Have often said it.
@JusticeForJoe: I prefer the punishment from midnight express
@Cian Nolan: The birch. Then deportation so we don’t have to pay for their incarceration. Is Van Diemans Land still open?
@lelookcoco: no its currently on lockdown because of the plague.
@Míleata Watch Co: Sounds like the perfect place for these vermin
@Tom kenny: Jaysis… when the warden lad brought his two kids in to watch him flog prisoners’ feet, wasn’t it? Or when Billy bit Rifki’s tongue off?
I absolutely agree. As a first responder myself, I just cannot fathom how someone could do this and feel okay with themselves. Disgusting behaviour.
@Patrick Corr: That’s noble work. Fair play to ya
@JusticeForJoe: I think there are skills that should be taught in school.
@Patrick Corr: 100% agree, have been saying this for years. If mandatory cpr and first aid skills were brought into schools it would be fantastic!
They could add damage to lifebuoy rings to that list for mandatory sentencing.
@Sean: paragraph 5
Yea, like that’s gonna work. Get real guys, the judges ain’t goin’ to do anything realistic. Let the damage and the thuggery continue. We’ll all pay for it, health-wise and financially and it’ll continue.
@Richard Ahern: it would work if it was mandatory 5years for damaging live saving equipment.
@OConnelj: *life
@Richard Ahern: judges have to give mandatory sentences.
This again, no inaction from Dept of Justice since this started happening 4/5 years ago, what do we have to do? Can the Dept of Justice just legislate for this instead of us chasing them for years, you know, do the job they are charged with?
Just give me a few minutes in a room with whoever done it and they won’t be able to wheel themselves to the next one.
We need a massive investment in teaching miscreants the basics of civil society and if they don’t learn it at primary level maybe national service could do the trick?!
@Niall O’Reilly: it all begins in the home. Responsibility in the home has degraded over the years, for various reasons, which I won’t get into but I agree, zero tolerance for this carry on.
@Niall O’Reilly: A good idea in principle and I would agree. But would you want these people near live ammunition?
@Patrick Corr: some of the best statesmen have developed from problematic beginnings!
@Sean McCarthy: I second this for sure. Are kids even being taught to respect others these days, or themselves for that matter. But it does start in the home. These problems have been years in the making and now we find ourselves chasing down these ‘problems’ having to protect ourselves from them.
@Niall O’Reilly: like Hitler Stalin and Mussolini?
we as a people have got too soft ..
A stolen lifebuoy: a stolen life.
There is no fear of the law by thugs that do this kind of vandalism, that is the problem. ‘A recent bereavement in the family’ is a common excuse for this kind of violent behaviour towards people or public property. An absence of a defibrillator could mean the loss of someone’s life.
The lowest of the low. I can’t use the language I’d like to on here but whoever commits this crime should be dealt with severely.
Do someone for attempted manslaughter and make an example of them.
Take the cost from their welfare.
@Eamon Guilfoyle: the cost of the life?
@Eamon Guilfoyle: How do you know they are on Welfare? They could be a bunch of “rich” kids, returning to their middle class homes at the end of a night on the tiles.
As for sentencing; it’s long past time our Government took on the judiciary and examine sentencing in this country. As it is it’s a sick joke.
Additionally, we need to stop allowing these low lives access to free legal aid countless numbers of times.
But nothing will change untill we succeed in reminding our politicians & the judiciary that they are there to serve our needs. And not theirs. That WE do not pay them exorbitant salaries to massage each others egos.
Simple. Make those responsible stand for 8 hrs a day for a week with a sign saying ” Im the person that damaged this piece of life saving equipment”.
If they got Judge M*rtin Nol*n they would probably get a financial reward instead of prison.
Bring back public flogging. They wouldn’t do it again
I think it would help if there was more education in schools showing the importance of these life saving devices. They probably don’t even realise what they are for, not that that is an excuse. Maybe if they new the importance of them and the fact they could save someone’s life they might just stick to vandalising phone boxes or something else.
@Michael Hanley: Phone boxes? Very 20th century.
May i suggest we place these life saving devices outside Chemists instead of Leisureplexes which would have a high Teenager Base,They might think twice then for obvious reasons.
The punishment should be they get one used on them while there alive
@Ellie Mae: on their ballz
imagine destruction of life saving equipment. some dirt out there.
definitely some low life council house teenagers mommy’s little angels. I hope the gardai finds them and break them
I think a hefty fine would suffice,might stop the ignorant eejits doing it,as in 600 to 1000 euro for tampering with it,may make them think twice!,it is life saving equipment and there are very few in small villages! As for prison sentence..good luck! 6 months dealt,12 months suspended!! We all know the justice system here!
Why do people try to sell these online is just crazy I came across 5 for sale since the start of January
Unfortunately if mandatory sentences were brought in they would be watered down, special exception, give credit for his past recorded, early plea, difficult background etc so by the time whom ever has damaged commented the offence would get off with a telling off, mandatory sentences only work if there is no loop hole to allow cases to be pleaded down
No need for minimum sentencing.
Just give them an electric induced heart attack and walk away. Tell them if they can find a defibrillator they they are sorted.
Attempted murder should fit the bill I think
Make them do community service in in a busy accident and emergency department in a hospital or ride in the back of an ambulance. Teach them first aid and how important defibrillators are to saving lives. Educate the ignorant.
have your say