Seagulls run over
Daytona Beach, FL (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Jan 7, 2012
County: Volusia
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Nicholas Michael Ulsch
Volusia County Beach Patrol officers said an Ormond Beach man who was on probation for animal torture twice intentionally drove into flocks of sea gulls, killing one bird and maiming another so badly it had to be euthanized. A third bird was injured.
Nicholas Ulsch, 43, faces three counts of animal cruelty after his arrest Saturday, according to an arrest affidavit.
He also faces a charge of violation of probation and is being held in the Volusia County Branch Jail with bail set at $5,000.
According to the arrest report: Ulsch was driving on the beach in Daytona Beach when he drove into the flocks of sea gulls.
He told officers he did not mean to hit the birds and thought he had missed them.
But officers said he intentionally hit the birds with his 1989 Jeep. The vehicle was seized.
A year ago, Ulsch was sentenced to three years of probation, with the first 364 days to be served in the Volusia County Branch Jail, for torturing a dog. He got credit for 122 days served prior to sentencing.
He also was ordered to pay restitution of $966.70 to the Ormond Beach Police Department, $696.38 to the Tomoka Pines Veterinary Hospital and $313.27 to the Volusia Animal Emergency Clinic, according to court documents.
His probation is scheduled to end Jan. 25, 2014, according to the state Department of Corrections.
According to the arrest affidavit in that case: Police were called to Ulsch's home in October 2009 by his roommate, Jeff Messau.
Messau told officers that Ulsch bought a puppy off Craigslist and after the dog defecated in the living room, he picked it up by its collar and slammed it over and over again into the wall.
Messau told officers it was Ulsch's fourth dog in two months and that two "mysteriously disappeared," while the other animal ran away. He told police he had seen his roommate beat the other dogs. References |
