Minto Heights’ Daniel Brighton fronts court for animal cruelty charges

A lawyer has defended the actions of a petting zoo owner who stabbed a dog with a pitchfork after it attacked his camel, asking the judge to consider what punishment would have awaited Lindy Chamberlain had she killed the dingo that took her baby. WARNING: graphic content.

A man who used a pitchfork to stab a dog before hanging it in a tree and beating it with a sledgehammer will live with the punishment for the rest of his life with his career now in ruins, a court has heard.

Daniel Brighton, 33, who was convicted, then cleared, of animal cruelty offences had his case revert back to the Local Court where a hearing was held last year.

The petting zoo owner fronted Campbelltown Local Court on Thursday for sentencing after he was found guilty of torturing, beating and causing the death of an animal and torturing, beating and seriously injuring an animal.

The Minto Heights man is the director of Get Wild and Farm Fields Mobile Farmyard. The statement of facts showed that on January 14, 2016 one of the company’s camels had been attacked by two dogs.

The documents said Brighton caught one of the dogs, a Staffordshire Terrier, and tied it to a tree then stabbed it with a pitchfork.

Brighton then left the pitchfork stuck in the dog and left it to go to the vet to get painkillers for his camel.

Court documents said when Brighton returned he took the dog to a tree, strung it up on a branch then beat the animal with a sledgehammer until it was semiconscious.

Brighton then wrapped the dog’s body in towels, and told one of his employees to bury it.

More than a year later, on August 31, 2017, police and RSPCA inspectors attended the property and found the animal remains.

In court on Thursday, the police prosecutor told the court the offending was above the mid-range of objective seriousness and the RSPCA submits the only appropriate penalty was one of imprisonment.

“The threat posed by the dog in question to both Alice the camel who it attacked and also Mr Brighton and others … was completely and efficiently neutralised at the time as of the commission of the first offence,” she told the court.

“[The submission he killed the dog out of fear] is entirely unsustainable on the face of the evidence.”

The prosecutor also told the court that Mr Brighton “actively sought to conceal the commission of these offences”, adding it was also necessary to take into consideration his experience in dealing with animals.

Pictured is Alice the Camel.

She said looking at all the factors, it was not “anything other than a calm considered decision to do something brutal and unnecessary to this animal”.

The prosecutor also told the court that in a sentence assessment report, Brighton showed no insight into his offending.

Defence solicitor Marcel Sahade said as the dog in question was a “noxious pest”, his client’s actions were at the lower end of objective seriousness.

He referenced the NSW Supreme Court ruling that the dog was in fact a pest.

Mr Sahade asked the court to consider what the narrative would be should Lindy Chamberlain have pitchforked a dingo that she thought took her baby.

“Does that warrant the jail sentence? If it was the dingo that had done that then it was a noxious pest animal hence at the lower end of offending,” he said.

“One may say there is a difference between a camel and a baby and that being the case there is a certainly a difference between a beloved camel, a pet, and a noxious pest being this dog that came onto his property in the middle of the night.

Daniel Brighton

“Were it not for the attack of this dog on a beloved camel Mr Brighton would have been asleep in his bed at 3am in the morning and there would have been no incident.”

Mr Sahade said a common quote is love can make you do crazy things, and “in this case it was the love of his camel”.

He also pointed out that on conviction, Brighton would be banned from working with or owning animals meaning he will lose his business.

“He can’t continue on with his business … this is extra punishment that he serves,” Mr Sahade said.

“He is going to carry a punishment that lives with him for the rest of his life and it ruins his career … he was caring for his camel and he loved his camel too much.”

In closing, Mr Sahade said Brighton “has lost his career and now it’s up to Your Honour whether you want to destroy his life”.

Magistrate David Degnan said he did not find that submission to be appropriate before Mr Sahade began speaking over him.

“Mr Sahade, do not raise your voice at me and do not talk over me,” Magistrate Degnan said.

“I withdraw it … if Your Honor was to send him to jail it would be as if his life was destroyed,” Mr Sahade responded.

Magistrate Degnan decided to reserve judgment and the matter returns to Campbelltown Local Court for sentencing on July 11.