A circus owner has been questioned by detectives about allegations that a wallaby died after being plied with ecstasy and alcohol at a birthday disco in Ireland. The marsupial was let loose among more than 150 revellers dancing at the Clarion Hotel in Liffey Valley, west Dublin, to the theme tune of the Australian television show Skippy The Bush Kangaroo.
Animal welfare campaigners set an official garda investigation in motion when they passed on complaints about the alleged mistreatment of the animal. Alexander Scholl, owner of Australian Super Circus Sydney, 500 metres away from the hotel, told officers he had two wallabies - Skippy and Sydney - but denied that either of them was used in the incident.
''They think it was one of my wallabies but it definitely was not. I would never lend them out to a nightclub with all the noisy music,'' he said. ''Someone told them the wallaby was given an ecstasy tablet and now it is dead. I said if it is dead then it is not one of my wallabies. I showed them Skippy and Sydney.''
Officers launched an inquiry after complaints were passed on from a witness at the 30th birthday celebrations and others who saw a video uploaded to Facebook. A gardai source confirmed allegations had been made that a wallaby died after being given ecstasy and alcohol but added they had yet to see any evidence to back up the claims. ''After the CCTV footage, no one knows what happened, good, bad or indifferent,'' said the source.
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