EXCLUSIVE, WARNING: Graphic content
Emails from a disgraced crocodile expert show how he tormented innocent families by promising to give their dogs a good home – when he actually planned to rape, torture and kill the beloved pets.
Adam Britton, 52, acquired about 42 dogs between 2020 and 2022 by searching adverts on Gumtree Australia looking for people in the Darwin area looking to rehome their animals.
He had alerts on his phone when a new dog came up for sale, and quickly emailed the owners, building a bond by telling them he could give their pets a good life, and that he was just ‘looking to a companion’.
In reality, Britton took the canines to sexually assault and murdered them on camera.
On Monday, the once-respected zoologist pleaded guilty in the Darwin Supreme Court to a series of charges involving animal cruelty, bestiality and possession of child exploitation material.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that one of the victims was a brown-coloured female dog called Kiki, who belonged to a sick woman who could no longer care for her.
Her family, who did not want to be identified, were shocked when NT Police called them last year and explained Britton’s abuse.
The woman’s sister said Britton “didn’t look like that when you met him.”
Adam Britton (pictured) was a respected crocodile expert with a sadistic interest in dogs
Kiki (pictured) was one of Britton’s victims. Her owners thought they were giving her a good home
She explained that Kiki was one of three abandoned puppies adopted by her family.
“I kept one female, my sister kept one female, and a partner took the young, but my sister got sick and had to go to the hospital for a long time,” she said.
‘My girl didn’t want another female dog in her garden as they were almost two now… so the only option for us was to find a good home as we couldn’t have them both.’
Britton contacted the woman four weeks later, on September 22, 2021, and spun a web of lies – claiming his dog had died a few months earlier and he was looking for a companion.
“I am very interested in meeting your 1.5 year old girl so I can give her a good home,” he wrote.
“I live on a five-acre property in Humpty Doo, and neither do any other dogs, so she would get the best of both worlds.
I haven’t had a dog since my last girl died a few months ago, but I miss her and need another companion.
“I can help you by giving her a great home.”
In reality, Britton owned two Swiss Shepherd pets, Ursa and Bolt – which he also sexually abused – and regularly bought other dogs from the area.
In the photo: an email Britton sent to Kiki’s owners, convincing them that he could take good care of her
Pictured: Another email Britton sent to Kiki’s owners, organizing to pick her up
Britton then told the owners that he had bonded with Kiki and that she would have a “good home” with him
The woman replied to Britton’s email, explaining that she only gave Kiki up because she had to, and said she was a loving dog who was afraid of people she didn’t know.
Britton replied: ‘I’m sorry to hear that your health is preventing you from continuing to have Kiki, that can’t be an easy decision.
‘Maybe I can make it a little easier by making sure she gets a good home with me.
“I’m the kind of person who wants a dog to be around at all times, otherwise the place seems empty.”
Four days later, on September 26, he sent another email to say that Kiki was “really sweet” and that they had “already bonded.”
“She will have a good home here,” he added.
According to court documents, Kiki did not survive the week.
Between September 26 and 30, Britton took Kiki and two other large dogs named Rose and Marylou to a shipping container on his property and filmed himself raping and torturing each pet until they died.
The details are so gruesome that Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to publish them.
Kiki was one of three rescue puppies. She is in the photo, left, with her sister
Kiki had her own puppies within the two years she lived with the family (pictured)
On October 16, he responded to a message from the previous owner who asked how Kiki was doing.
“She is doing great,” he wrote, adding that he was happy with her, and he believed she was doing well in her new home.
The woman told Daily Mail Australia she was devastated by Britton’s depraved actions and questioned her decision to give Kiki to someone else.
“I wish I had never given her up and that I could have kept her somehow and made it work,” she said.
‘IIt’s absolutely horrible that a human could do this to an animal… hHe’s a sick, crazy man.’
Kiki was one of at least 39 dogs that Britton raped and killed. He ran two Telegram accounts between 2020 and 2022 called ‘monster’ and ‘Cerberus’ – the latter being a three-headed dog in Greek mythology.
He used accounts to engage with like-minded people about animal abuse and bestiality, but his downfall soon came when he uploaded a video called ‘1B***h9Pups’ to an abuse website on March 22, 2022.
Adam Britton (centre) with his wife Erin (left) and David Attenborough (right) during filming for a BBC documentary
The next day, an anonymous Internet user noticed that the adult female dog was wearing an orange City of Darwin leash with the slogan “great pets start with you.”
They forwarded the images via Gmail to the NT Animal Welfare Branch, who then referred the case to police.
On April 22, a month after Britton posted the video online, NT Police and Australian Federal Police raided his home in McMinns Lagoon, southern Darwin.
Detectives seized computers, cell phones, cameras, external hard drives, tools, weapons, dog paraphernalia and sex toys.
They also found severed dog limbs in a freezer, a decomposing puppy in a pond on the property, and a severed dog’s head on a neighboring property.
Britton was charged with 37 counts of animal cruelty, 10 counts of rape or attempted rape of a dog, and four counts of possessing or transmitting child abuse material.
He has been in pre-trial detention since his arrest and will appear in court again on December 13 for sentencing.