PALM BEACH, Fla. – A man who intentionally ran over nine ducklings with a lawn mower has been sentenced to jail.
Jason Scott Falbo II, 24, of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., appeared in court Thursday and pleased guilty to nine counts of animal cruelty, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Also on Thursday, Falbo pleaded guilty to a charge of domestic battery by strangulation concerning a fight with his girlfriend, which was separate from the duck incident.
On May 2, a family called police because they said Falbo, who works for a law care company, intentionally ran over the ducks that lived in their backyard.
“They were in my path, so I just kept mowing,” Falbo said, according to the police report, WFTV reported.
The mother duck and a few ducklings were able to escape, but nine of the babies were killed. The homeowners said they often fed the birds that lived in their yard, and they were heartbroken as they witnessed the ducks’ body parts being strewn around the grass.
“After taking out several ducks on one pass, a smiling and laughing Falbo aimed his mower at more of them,” the Sun-Sentinel reports, according to the homeowners.
As punishment for both the animal cruelty and battery charges, the judge handed down a sentence of three years of probation, with the first year in jail, the newspaper reported. Once he is freed, he is not allowed to own any animals, the judge ruled, so animal control officers will do random checks to his home.
