California man has been jailed, fined and banned from owning pets after being caught on video pouring booze down the beak of a protected hawk and posting the video online.
Cesar Gustavo Diaz, 25, entered a plea of no-contest to animal cruelty after admitting he captured a juvenile Cooper’s hawk at Amelia Mayberry Park in South Whittier last June.
“The case came to light after a video surface on YouTube showing Diaz pouring an alcoholic beverage into the bird’s mouth,” the California Department of Fish and Wildlife posted on Facebook Tuesday.
In screen grabs shared by wildlife officials, the hawk is shown being fed a liquid and also with a cigarette or joint in its beak. A plastic bag also appears to be tied around its leg. It’s unclear who took the video.
Cooper’s hawks are protected raptors under state and federal law.
Tips from concerns members of the public alerted the department, which executed search warrants during the investigation.
Police also intervened.
Diaz, a convicted felon, was already in custody on unrelated charges when he was identified as the person in the video.
Diaz was charge with misdemeanour animal cruelty and capturing and confining wildlife.
On Feb. 19, The Los Angeles County Superior Court sentenced Diaz to 12 months of summary, 45 days in jail, 20 days of community service, a 24-session animal cruelty counselling program, a five-year ban on possessing animals, a 10-year firearm ban and fined $220.
Diaz released the hawk before wildlife officials got involved.
Its status is unknown.
