Man pleads guilty to shooting plover with arrow

A magistrate said it was unfortunate a defendant was “not a worse shot” as he fined him $1250 for shooting a plover through the chest.

A man shot a plover through the chest with an arrow so that his daughter could play on the trampoline, a court has heard.

Tony Ivan Neindorf, 46, today pleaded guilty in Caboolture Magistrates Court to one count of animal cruelty after shooting a bird with an arrow on August 5, 2020.

A report was made to the RSPCA in D’Aguilar after a plover had been seen with an arrow through its chest.

While the bird was responsive, it was euthanised on humane grounds due to the injuries

sustained, and as a lower leg fracture was not repairable.

On August 11, RSPCA inspectors searched Neindorf’s property, where he presented identical arrows to the one found in the bird.

RSPCA’s Chantelle Scolari with the injured plover last August

Neindorf denied any involvement after he saw media reports about the bird and panicked.

In a later interview, Neindorf admitted that he had shot the plover, after planning to scare it with the arrow.

He said his daughter had asked him to get the plover away.

The court heard the arrow was stuck in the bird and the bird flew off and he couldn’t

catch it, otherwise he would have taken it to a vet.

Neindorf and his daughter had both had sleepless nights over the incident, he said.

Magistrate Andrew Hackett noted that it could not be said that it was a sure thing that the arrow would hit the bird, but it was unfortunate that Neindorf was “not a worse shot”.

Neindorf was fined $1250 as well as further vet and boarding costs. No conviction was recorded.