July 16, 2011
SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian woman was sentenced to 180 hours of community service Friday after filming herself decapitating a mouse with a steak knife and posting the video online.
Naomi Anderson, 23, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty over the video, posted on social networking site Facebook under an alias earlier this month, which showed her hacking off the creature's head.
Animal welfare officers described the video as "extremely graphic", with mouse taking 40 seconds to die.
Queensland magistrate Peter Hasted said Anderson was clearly troubled but acts of animal cruelty could not be tolerated.
"We need to send a message to others that what was done was intolerable and unacceptable," Hasted said, according to the local Sunshine Coast Daily newspaper.
"You appear to be genuinely remorseful for your actions but this is an extremely serious offence."
Anderson was banned from owning an animal for two years and put on an 18-month good behaviour bond in addition to her community service.
Animal protection agency RSPCA welcomed the outcome.
"This case... shows that you are not immune to prosecution for animal cruelty offences that are posted on the Internet and social media sites," said the RSPCA's Tracey Jackson.
