A former publisher of an animal magazine convicted of drowning a pet cat has failed to regain custody of his "companion parrot," but he has successfully had his sentence downgraded in NSW District Court.
This article contains an image that may be distressing for some people.
Philip Gregory Tripp was charged with killing a domestic cat named Mango last July at his two-hectare property in Coffs Harbour on the NSW Mid North Coast.
He sparked a significant public backlash over the killing when he uploaded an image of the feline in a cage sitting atop a garbage bin filled with water to social media in a post that read: "The first feral cat of the season."
The 71-year-old's eclectus parrot named Jackson — his pet of more than 20 years — was taken away from him after his conviction of the animal cruelty offence, which prohibits him from owning or caring for an animal.
The loss of Mr Tripp's so-called "companion parrot" formed the main basis of his appeal to overturn his conviction.
During submissions last week, Mr Tripp's defence lawyer Carlo Bianchino presented a report from avian vet Rob Marshall, who noted it would be impossible to replicate the complex bond between Mr Tripp and his parrot.
Mr Bianchino said, based on Dr Marshall's findings, the bird might suffer from ailments such as digestive issues and the onset of diseases if separated from Mr Tripp for a prolonged period.
But on Wednesday in the district court in Coffs Harbour, Judge Jonathon Priestly said the possible detrimental effects on the parrot were "overstated".
He cited one of the defence's submissions from a woman who cared for Jackson at least once a year for up to eight weeks at a time.
"While [Jackson] might miss his owner, he isn't going to suffer death as a result," Judge Priestly said.
Despite Mr Tripp maintaining he was trying to protect his property from feral cats, the judge said there was no evidence Mr Tripp had attempted to confirm if the cat was feral or not.
The judge noted Mr Tripp's eagerness about killing the "beloved family cat" and boastfulness of posting about the incident to social media.
"No doubt the cat was frightened in the cage," the judge said.
During his judgement, Judge Priestly acknowledged Mango's owner, Emma Votto said the 71-year-old was "sincere and remorseful for his actions" in his written apology to the family.
The judge described Mr Tripp as a 'law-abiding man with an interest in conserving wildlife' reflected through his previous publication of the Urban Animal as well as his character references.
Judge Priestly acknowledged Mr Tripp's sentence was reduced in part because of his clean record, his plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity and remorse.
The severity of Mr Tripp's sentence was reduced from an intensive corrections order to a less restrictive 12-month community corrections order.
Editor's note 10/02/2002: This story has been corrected after a caption in an earlier version said that Philip Gregory Tripp had filmed the incident when in fact it had just been photographed.
