A woman who was filmed cutting up and then eating her hamster called Mr Nibbles has been sentenced to 12 months in prison yesterday.
Footage of the attack carried out by Emma Parker, 39, was shared online, prompting a warning from shocked RSPCA inspectors.
Two videos recorded at Parker’s home were sent to the RSPCA by a concerned member of the public, Lincoln Crown Court heard.
The first video was 27 seconds long and showed Parker repeatedly jabbing a large knife into a hamster ball with Mr. Nibbles and then cutting the still-living animal in half.
A second video showed Parker holding a water bottle and then eating the two dissected halves of the now-dead hamster, the court was told.
The court was told Parker was “chosen” — a practice where people take over someone’s home and use the property to facilitate exploitation — by a drug dealer who lived nearby and was instructed when she filmed the videos. In one of the clips, a woman can be heard laughing off camera as Parker devours the rodent.
Footage of the attack carried out by Emma Parker, 39, was shared online, prompting a warning from shocked RSPCA inspectors
Parker, 39, ate the hamster after cutting it in half when he was alive – after attempts to stab him
Prosecutor Gordon Holt said: ‘The two videos posted on social media showed the defendant holding a hamster in a hamster ball.
The suspect is holding the ball with a knife in the other hand.
“She takes the knife and puts it through the opening of the ball while moving the knife back and forth.
“An onlooker hears laughter and says ‘you’re a sick b******** that you are.’
The hamster can be heard beeping repeatedly, allowed to escape and run around for a while.
“The defendant tries to hit it with the knife, at least once with success.
She pinches his neck to keep him quiet.
“It’s alive and she uses the knife in a chopping and sawing motion across the center of the hamster’s body.
“In the second video, the defendant eats the two halves of the dissected body.”
During police questioning, Parker, from Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire, admitted the video belonged to her and claimed she helped the hamster die after it was bitten by one of her dogs earlier in the day.
Parker said the incident happened at her home last May, but declined to name those filming the footage, telling police that “they’re not nice people.”
A vet with 27 years of experience who reviewed the footage described the content as deeply disturbing and said Mr Nibbles would have suffered both physical and psychological damage, as hamsters are prey animals that can sense fear.
The vet added that in her entire career she had never heard a hamster squeak like Mr. Nibbles did.
Parker admitted to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The court heard Parker was the subject of community service for shoplifting in both 2021 and 2022 and had a long history of addiction to Class A drugs.
Chris Brewin, softening, said Parker was the target of the video, which saw her house vandalized and dog poop put through the mailbox.
The court heard that Parker had been the subject of community service for felony shoplifting in both 2021 and 2022 and had a long history of addiction to Class A drugs.
Parker appeared to be filmed from a car window eating the hamster in footage shared online
Judge James House, KC, told Parker, who has since suffered burns in a car accident, to take note that parliament had recently increased the maximum sentence for such animal cruelty from six months to five years in prison.
Judge House said it was “abhorrent” that violence had been inflicted on a defenseless animal for the amusement of others.
“The hamster was injured at least twice and then cut in half while still alive,” Judge House said.
The judge banned Parker from keeping animals for 15 years after telling her he considered her cruelty “serious.”
RSPCA inspector Andy Bostock said after the case: ‘We share the public’s horror at this horrific incident and would like to thank the police for supporting this investigation.
“This kind of cruelty has no place in today’s society and was a callous, cruel attack on a defenseless animal.
“It is disturbing and distressing to everyone who has been involved in this case.”
After the RSPCA first became aware of the video, a spokesman said: ‘This is an extremely disturbing video and we want to reassure the public that we are investigating and are working closely with the police.
“Please don’t share or comment on it because it increases the chances of other people seeing it and getting upset.”
Two dogs were also taken from Parker’s home.
Lincolnshire Police have confirmed they arrested a woman on June 23 following the RSPCA’s investigation.
The lawsuit evokes memories of the famous tabloid headline ‘Freddie Starr ate my hamster’ – one of the first examples of fake news.
The March 1986 Sun story alleged that the hungry comedian placed a friend’s hamster between two slices of bread and ate it at her home in Manchester, after the pair returned there after a stage performance in the city.
But what became one of the most famous headlines of all time was created by his publicist Max Clifford to get attention for Starr’s tour. The comedian later said he had never nibbled on “a live hamster, gerbil, guinea pig, mouse, shrew, vole, or any other small mammal.”
After Starr’s death four years ago at the age of 76, the Sun’s headline read: ‘Freddie Starr joins his hamster’.