Wash. man who stabbed parrot to death gets 6 months in jail
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A 63-year-old Everett, Wash., man has been sentenced to six months in jail for fatally stabbing his ex- girlfriend's parrot with a serving fork.
The Daily Herald reports that Richard J. Atkinson pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and domestic-violence malicious mischief in the Aug. 19 attack.
In a letter to the newspaper in September, the woman said she had the parrot, Bailey, for 18 years.
Defense lawyer William Steffener said at Tuesday's sentencing that his client doesn't remember what happened, but he may have mixed anti-anxiety medication with whiskey and slipped into a blacked-out rage.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Appel ordered Atkinson to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He also has to pay the woman for her parrot and destroyed belongings, and he can't own any animals for five years.
The sentence seems too extreme.
"I forgot" seems to be a pretty popular way for dirtbags like Richard J. Atkinson to attempt to avoid accountability for their crimes. Regardless of whether Mr. Atkinson actually remembers his crime, he consciously chose to consume alcohol with his anti-anxiety meds. These meds are undoubtedly labeled with warnings against mixing alcohol and psychotropics, and he has probably been warned by his doctor and pharmacist too. Just another dirtbag looking for an excuse. Â
OMG murdering this parrot is just like murdering her child or sibling. Parrots are so incredibly smart, intellectually (akin to 5 yr old human child) and emotionally and socially. I know this woman will have a hard time (if ever) getting past this horrible animal-murder tragedy. It breaks my heart for how scared the parrot must have felt and how emotionally tortured the woman must have felt. Look at (and enjoy and be amazed by) one of the most amazing parrots in the world in history:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqPvsB9-_J0
 @whirledworld It's good to see people take the death of animals seriously - too many folks don't get it. Thank you for sharing the link to the amazing and very special Alex!
I stabbed and carved-up a bird last week and no one complained.
Hmm, I wonder what  the parrot said that triggered this attack.Â
@swimbad I taught my mom's Parrot to flip off people. Just my luck the first person to get the #1 sighn was my mom. She did not try to kill the bird but whooped me good for it. That was the coollest thing to see a Bird flip the Bird.
 @cpt.iceman  @swimbad Ha ha, I love it cpt.iceman! Parrots are cool when they are taught to be rude, like us! He he he...
 @swimbad Probably something like the skit in Scary Movie 2!
(..which I'd describe in detail, but doing so would probably get me uninvited in short order)
Poor bird....parrots are so loving and fun...18 years! A wonderful bird. I hope that idiot has a rotten time in jail...not nearly long enough.
 @fracas 18 years could be a very young bird. Parrots can live to 100 or more.
"Defense lawyer William Steffener said at Tuesday's sentencing that his client doesn't remember what happened, but he may have mixed anti-anxiety medication with whiskey and slipped into a blacked-out rage." Â (from the story)
Â
Um-hmm... just knew there had to be some reason other than the guy's a loser who doesn't have enough sense not to mix mood-altering scrip meds with alcohol... and takes out his "anxieties" on pet birds... Â
 @margay1 Well said, even if this man truly doesn't remember he is still responsible for drinking while under heavy medication and therefore accountable for his actions. I'm sorry for the loss of this woman's parrot; she must have been scared to death through the whole thing. Thank goodness she wasn't harmed or killed during his rage.