CONVICTED (2023) | Caroline Smith, born c. 1971, of Riley Green Marina, Bolton Road, Hoghton, Preston PR5 0SP – throttled a neighbour’s cockerel in a fit of rage after the bird kept waking her up
New Ager Smith, who also works as a lorry driver, injured the black araucana cross cockerel named Eddy and left him with brain damage because his loud crowing woke her up at 3am.
The court heard how Smith was woken up in the early hours of September 2022. Smith believed that her neighbour had previously agreed to kill the bird, but had killed the wrong one – so she decided to take matters into her own hands
Another neighbour then saw Smith trying to strangle Eddy and hit him with a boat fender – which left him unconscious. The neighbour rushed Eddy to an emergency vet, who found blood around the bird’s nostrils.
He also said the cockerel was displaying clinical signs that were consistent with having sustained a brain injury, either via head trauma or via oxygen deprivation.
The vet also said it was not possible to determine if permanent brain damage had occurred or whether Eddy had been left with a disability.
He said that Eddy would survive the injuries, but would need close monitoring once he was back at his home in Preston.
Smith was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to Eddy on June 15, 2023.
RSPCA Inspector Taylor said: “There is never an excuse for deliberately harming and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal like this. Smith said that she worked nights and had been disturbed by noise made by Eddy’s owners – especially from their cockerel over the past couple of months. But other solutions could and should have been explored, rather than resorting to treating an animal like this.”
Sentencing | ordered to pay costs of £1,296 and a victim surcharge of £114. Banned from keeping birds for four years (expires June 2027)
