Man who bit the head off rat given community service
WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: A man who bit the head off a rat and posting footage on Facebook has been sentenced to 100 hours of community service by a Brisbane court.
Matthew Clement Maloney, 24, was also restricted from owning a pet for three years after being charged with animal cruelty and causing unnecessary or unreasonable pain.
Matt Maloney bit the rat and posting a video to Facebook. Photo: Facebook
RSPCA inspectors raided Maloney's Albion home in January, seizing a pet snake and his surviving rats, after receiving a complaint about a gruesome social media post in which the head was bitten off a live rodent and swallowed.
But Maloney defended his actions, saying he was going to feed the rat to his pet snake and was killing it beforehand.
"The rat in the video was a feeder rat and was always going to die. I fed the body to my snake after the video and it wasn't wasted (I like to share)," Mr Maloney allegedly posted to Facebook in January.
The maximum penalties for animal cruelty are three years imprisonment and a fine of $220,000.
News break – July 11
