Phil Gregory Tripp, former publisher of Urban Animal magazine, has been sentenced for the killing of a cat in July.
Tripp received a nine-month intensive corrections order, was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, and will lose custody of his companion parrot of 23 years after pleading guilty to animal cruelty, reported the ABC.
He received the maximum discount on his sentence as he entered a guilty plea to the charge at the earliest opportunity.
The 70-year-old Coffs Harbour resident was charged in July after he caught and drowned a domestic ginger cat in a garbage bin, and uploaded images of the incident to social media.
Hugo Schleiger, Tripp’s lawyer, said his client was deeply remorseful for his actions and had intended to trap and kill feral cats, which were threatening native wildlife on his property, however prosecutor Heidi Warren said given Tripp’s background he should have known the cat was not feral.
“One would expect an animal lover, or someone who is across animal conservation, would know the difference between a feral and a domestic cat.”
Magistrate Ian Rodgers described the crime as “horrific” and “abhorrent” but considered his prior good character and remorse and elected to not sentence the maximum penalty of five years’ jail.
Image sourced from Facebook.