Man accused of ‘torturing flamingo’ at well-known Las Vegas lodge
A man has been hit with charges of animal torture after he was accused of injuring a flamingo after breaking into its habitat at a Las Vegas hotel.
Canadian Mitchell Fairbarn was arrested at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas early Tuesday morning on suspicion of numerous counts of animal abuse. Authorities revealed they received the call concerning the alleged animal abuse at around 6am after a man allegedly broke into a Flamingo’s habitat at the hotel.
The arrest report stated: “In addition to Fairbarn having on his cellphone multiple videos and pictures of him torturing a flamingo in his hotel room, by choking it and throwing it to the ground multiple times, while he is laughing about it, and with absolutely no regard for the safety and wellness of the animals, he was arrested and charged with four counts of Willful/ Malicious Torture/ Maim/ Kill an Animal.”
CCTV obtained by authorities allegedly shows the Canadian grappling with a flamingo from the habitat at around 5am. Fairbairn is later seen in the CCTV footage allegedly grabbing a second flamingo at around 5:07 while entering the elevator.
The police report states: “Fairbarn is seen laughing in the video and says ‘I’m taking it home’ as he walks back to his room, depicting a big ‘Fairbarn’ tattoo on his upper back, and the video ends.”
Fairbairn claimed to police he entered the flamingo habitat because he saw a flamingo in distress. He told authorities he entered the habitat and popped the flamingo’s wing back into the place despite the numerous warning signs cautioning against the public from entering the habitat.
Fairbarn’s arrest report claimed the Canadian pulled the wing out of the bird’s body as he tried to “pop it back in.”
The report claimed Fairbarn injured the flamingo’s wing and ruptured the animal’s blood supply during the incident. Authorities have claimed Fairbarn “willfully and maliciously severely injured a federally protected migratory species such as the flamingo.”
Fairburn is to appear in court on Monday, March 9.
The Daily Star previously reported on an a teen who appeared charged with the wilful abandonment of his dog after its body was found last year in a neglected state.
Despite earlier reports of animal cruelty, the owner failed to respond to repeated intervention attempts by animal welfare charities.
In a shocking detail revealed during the hearing, a post-mortem found Athéna had suffered from extreme malnutrition and had a sock lodged in her intestine, suggesting she was so desperate for food she tried to eat anything available. Athéna was discovered dead in July 2024 in a house in a village east of Montpellier, France.
