Woman who killed step-daughter’s pet parrot jailed 4 weeks
Angry at having been bitten by her step-daughter’s pet parrot, Tran Thi Thuy Hang beat the animal to death the next day and threw its carcass down the rubbish chute.
For her actions, the 38-year-old Singapore permanent resident was sentenced to four weeks’ jail at the State Courts on Wednesday (1 August). She had pleaded guilty on 25 July to a charge of animal cruelty.
The parrot, a sun conure named Lucky, belonged to national netball player Yu Mei Ling, 26.
Court documents showed that on 27 October last year, Lucky had been perched on Yu’s shoulder when Hang walked into the family’s Rivervale Walk flat sometime between 8pm and 9pm. As she walked past Yu, Lucky flew over to Hang and bit her on the right cheek, close to her eye.
Upset and in pain, Hang ran into her room and complained to Yu’s father. She demanded that the parrot be removed from the house or she would kill it.
When Hang found the parrot in its cage the next morning, Hang took a laundry pole and hit the animal multiple times. Yu and father were not at home at the time.
Hang later showed the parrot’s carcass to Yu’s father when he returned home and then tossed it down the rubbish chute along with its cage.
Yu later contacted the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) about the incident on 6 November.
The prosecution had asked for at least five weeks’ jail for Hang. Her lawyer, Leong Keng Kheong, sought a “heavy fine” or a week’s jail instead, saying that the animal’s death had been unintentional.
District Judge Adam Nakhoda said in court that Lucky had clearly died as a result of the beating. He also noted that Hang claimed to have “lost her dignity” due to the parrot attack, which he said showed a lack of remorse on her part.
“A fine is manifestly inadequate,” said the judge.
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