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Case #8905 Rating: 2.4 out of 5
Seagull beaten to death
Boston, MA (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jun 9, 2006
County: Suffolk
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Christopher Guay
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A 40-year-old high-rise window washer sat in a downtown lockup last night on felony animal cruelty charges after an MSPCA cop arrested him for defending himself against an attacking sea gull, police and the man's wife said.
"It's ridiculous," said the man's wife, Lin Maloney, inside the South End home she shares with her husband, 13 finches, two parakeets, two dogs, and three cats. "He doesn't have a violent bone in his body. He's not cruel to animals."
Christopher Guay was on the roof of 161 Devonshire St. on June 9 about 3:30 p.m. when several office workers in neighboring building saw a man in white overalls and a harness striking the gull with a black bar or stick, presumably a squeegee. A responding officer walked to the roof of the building and saw the bird lying motionless, noting in his report, "the carcass was still warm."
"The suspect stated he was on the roof when the gull started attacking him, forcing him to strike the bird," Boston police spokesman Dave Estrada said.
A Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals cop who also responded to the call didn't buy Guay's story.
"I've never bailed anyone out of jail before," she said. "When I called the bail bondsman he said 'What's he in jail for,' I said 'For beating a sea gull,' and he started laughing. He said 'This is a joke right?' "
Peter Gollub, director of law enforcement for the MSPCA, refused comment about the dead bird except to say the agency had arrested a man for animal cruelty.
Case UpdatesA Boston window washer who killed a seagull in June, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty Friday.
A municipal court judge handed Christopher Guay, a one-year suspended sentence and ordered him to complete a year of probation. Guay must also open his South End house to three surprise inspections by the M.S.P.C.A. He and his wife own dozens of birds and other pets.
Prosecutors said Guay used a broken-broom handle to strike a seagull while washing windows at a Devonshire Street office building. Guay said he acted in self defense. | Source: Yahoo News - Dec 9, 2006
Update posted on Dec 9, 2006 - 3:27PM |
A man arrested last week after allegedly killing a seagull in downtown Boston pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty charges in court on June 11.
Christopher Guay, 40, said the bird was divebombing him as he worked washing windows and he swung at it, but office workers who saw the incident called the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and an MSPCA officer arrested him.
NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that Guay could face five years in prison if convicted of the felony animal cruelty charge he is facing, but his attorney argued in court that the charge is not a felony.
Despite being heckled by onlookers who made birdlike squawking noises as he passed them inside Boston Municipal Court, Guay faced a judge pleading not guilty and signed a bail warning. He declined to answer questions from the media on the advice of his attorney. Guay talked with NewsCenter 5 over the weekend, however, saying he never intended to hurt the bird and that he swung at it in self-defense. He said he keeps several birds as pets.
"I'm an animal lover, plain and simple. I don't have a violent bone in my body," Guay said at the time.
Guay's shaken wife Lin Maloney called the case confusing. Monday, her husband was fired from his job with Cliffhangers Inc.
"Very confused. Didn't make any sense," she said.
Some Boston office workers snapped pictures of the bird incident and Guay's arrest on a Devonshire rooftop last Friday. They said several gulls had built a nest and hatched eggs and only swooped on the window washers when they came near the nest. They said Guay's self-defense story doesn't fly and they claimed that after he hit and killed the mother bird he made an obscene gesture at them, grabbing his crotch.
Maloney said the office workers have ruined her husband's life.
"I think they're vicious and vindictive to not even attempt to talk to him. I mean, if I was on the street and I saw somebody just swinging at something, I wouldn't make the assumption they were attempting to hurt it," Maloney said.
Guay is scheduled to return to court in July. | Source: The Boston Channel - June 13, 2006
Update posted on Jun 13, 2006 - 11:44AM |
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