Man who shot kangaroo with crossbow sentenced to three months jail
WARNING, DISTRESSING IMAGES:
A Victorian man who shot a kangaroo through the head with a crossbow has been sentenced to three months jail.
James Johnathon Calleja, 34 drove on to a private property in Ashbourne, near Woodend in regional Victoria, in an unregistered car on August 12 last year, the Bendigo Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday during his sentencing.
Decked out in camouflage, Calleja shot the kangaroo while the family were home, the court heard.
Calleja was previously found guilty of three animal cruelty and two trespass charges as well as weapons offences and has been sentenced to three months behind bars.
The marsupial, which the family had named Spot, lived for almost a month with the arrow lodged through his head before wildlife volunteers were able to track him down.
The arrow was surgically removed on September 9, but sadly the 75-kilogram eastern grey kangaroo died three days later while being nursed by rescuers.
Police found a Fang crossbow and 28 crossbow "bolts", or arrows, at Calleja’s Sunbury residence on October 2, the The Bendigo Advertiser reported.
“The witnesses and children saw Spot with the crossbow in its head and were quite distressed," Prosecutor Senior Constable Martin Friend told the Castlemaine Magistrates’ Court in April.
“The children refused to let their animals outside as they were petrified that the accused would return and kill the animals.
“Spot the kangaroo ... was looked upon as a pet.”
Manfred Zabinska, who the family called to track the animal, lobbied with other animal cruelty campaigners to have Calleja sentenced to the maximum period of two years.
He said the ordeal was "really distressing for everyone involved.”
“From the rescue, to taking it to the vet, and seeing this kangaroo eventually die, [it] was hard,” he told local newspaper Star Weekly.
