It was supposed to be just a joke between friends, at least according to his version. The problem is that for a “prank” he ended up in court, with a guilty plea for animal cruelty and the risk of spending over four years behind bars. The protagonist of the story is Mitchell Fairbarn, a 34-year-old Canadian tourist, who during a stay in Las Vegas took a flamingo from the enclosure of a famous hotel-casino, bringing it to his room. All this while he was not in a lucid state, thanks to a significant quantity of alcohol ingested.
The flamingo taken in the elevator: what the videos show
The facts date back to the early hours of March 3, 2026, inside the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, one of the most well-known hotels in the American city, also famous for its habitat which is home to flamingos and other animal species.
According to the police reconstruction, Fairbarn climbed over the fence of the area dedicated to animals, chasing some flamingos. He then grabbed one, a 27-year-old Chilean flamingo named Peachy, and carried it to his room.
The images from the surveillance cameras, shown during the trial, document the tourist carrying the bird through the corridors of the hotel and into an elevator, also holding it by the neck. In the videos, the man is seen smiling while the animal shakes and makes noises. According to the prosecution, the flamingo was dragged and handled causing it pain.
When he was found, Peachy had injuries to his wings, traces of blood on his plumage and had lost between seven and eight feathers.
“It seems crazy, but I drank between 30 and 40 beers”
During the trial, Fairbarn said he came to Las Vegas to attend a professional construction industry event. Together with his friends he had spent a day clubbing, drinking and gambling.
When questioned by his lawyer, he estimated that he had consumed between 30 and 40 beers. “It seems crazy,” he admitted in court, as reported by Las Vegas Review-Journal. The defendant claimed that bringing the flamingo into the room was just a joke and that he never intended to hurt it.
His lawyer, Josh Tomsheck, acknowledged the seriousness of the behavior, but insisted on the absence of a deliberate intention to cause suffering to the animal. “Mitch was drunk. Mitch was stupid. He made some bad decisions,” reports theAssociated Press. A defense line that did not convince the jurors.
How is Peachy the flamingo and what is the tourist at risk now?
After around five hours of deliberation, the jury found Fairbarn guilty of two animal cruelty offences, one serious and one minor: the 34-year-old faces up to four years in prison for the first and a further six months for the second. The punishment has not yet been set and the sentence is expected on December 1, 2026. In the meantime, the tourist remains under house arrest in the United States.
And Peachy? According to veterinarian Tiffany Moore, who followed him after the incident, the flamingo has recovered physically. The consequences of the episode, however, do not seem entirely over: the animal shows even greater nervousness and anxiety during veterinary visits.
The story sparked outrage in the United States. John Waudby, an animal rights activist in Nevada, welcomed the verdict, hoping that it represents a warning against mistreatment. The prank, as the defendant described it, and a night of excess could now cost him several years of freedom.