Teenager, 19, is charged with animal cruelty after disturbing footage emerged showing him 'gripping an emu by its neck and tearing feathers out of its body'
- A 19-year-old man charged over an alleged act of animal cruelty to an emu
- Disturbing footage emerged this week man gripping an emu by the neck
- A woman can be heard laughing as the man pins the bird down and it struggles
- Do you know more? Email kelsey.wilkie@mailonline.com
A teenager who allegedly tried to ride an injured emu after violently ripping feathers off as friends laughed in the background has been charged with animal cruelty.
Police launched an investigation after the disturbing footage emerged on Facebook this week.
The incident is believed to have happened in Coonamble, in rural New South Wales, on Sunday night.
A man has been charged after footage of a distressed emu being grabbed by the neck emerged online
The 19-year-old was arrested at a home in Dubbo on Wednesday before he was charged with recklessly beating and causing prolonged suffering to animal.
He was granted conditional bail to appear at Dubbo Local Court on July 22.
A man wearing a blue can be seen pinning a bird down by the neck as it struggles to escape.
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A woman can then be heard saying: 'This is going to be funny as f**k.'
As the man lifts the flightless bird, hundreds of feathers fall to the ground.
'It can't stand bro,' the woman can be heard saying.
The emu had been caught in a wire fence when the group went to save it, but once it was free the alleged tormenting began
Another male can be seen helping the man drag the emu by the head and neck before the bird manages to leap to its feet.
As the bird attempts to flee, the man then quickly leaps on its back.
After failing to ride the creature, the man then rips handfuls of feathers from its back, tossing the feathers joyfully into the air, while his friends laugh hysterically.
The emu's back is almost completely bald by the time the man decides to stop.
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