Police: Owner was 'flipping the bird'

KEY WEST, Fla., March 7 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a man facing a felony animal cruelty charge for allegedly abusing his cockatoo in public was sitting on and "flipping the bird."

Key West police said Douglas Kutney, 67, was intoxicated just prior to 7 p.m. Saturday when he was seen "striking the bird, ripping out its feathers, flipping the bird and squeezing it and attempting to sit on the bird" in front of more than 20 witnesses near Mallory Square, KeysNet.com, Florida Keys, reported Wednesday.

Officer Jeffrey Dean said in his arrest report Kutney was handcuffed and searched.

"As I pinned Kutney to the side of the van," Dean wrote, "his shorts fell down to his ankles. Kutney was not wearing any underwear at that time."

Kutney's reasons for allegedly attacking the bird were not mentioned in the report.

The cockatoo was taken to the Florida Keys Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for rehabilitation.