Man jailed for killing hamster in microwave

A man in Hartlepool has been jailed for nine weeks and banned from keeping a pet for five years after he admitted microwaving a hamster. Anthony Parker, 29, from Hartlepool, Teeside, admitted to killing his "favourite" hamster, when police arrived at his home on Holyrood Way in the early hours of February 23. The unemployed construction worker said he put the creature in the microwave after a drunken row with his girlfriend. He told police: "I didn't mean to kill her. She was the best hamster I ever had. She was called Suzie."

Neil Taylor, prosecuting, said: "It was clear the hamster died in agony." Parker had been drinking all day when his girlfriend came home and they rowed. Although he said he did not mean to kill the animal, he said he wanted his lover to see it. He later said he had no recollection of the events.



Police found Suzie in a green wheely bin outside - the animal's lips were burned and its eyes were opaque. Mr Taylor said the hamster would have tried to get away from the source of the radiation which was heating her internal cells, but she could not. "Death finally occurs when the brain is over-heated or the heart muscles stop
functioning," he said.

Despite his admission to police, Parker later denied the offence on legal advice because his confession was made when he was very drunk. But he changed his plea before the hearing, admitting causing unnecessary suffering to the Syrian hamster by microwaving it, resulting in its death. He will serve half his sentence in prison and the rest on licence.

Includes photo of microwaved hamster.