A Cowangie man has been arrested after shocking video emerged of a 4WD running down emus

A COWANGIE man has been arrested after sickening video showing a driver running down emus in a 4WD drew backlash on social media. Another Victorian man has received death threats over the footage but insists it’s not him. WARNING: DISTRESSING VIDEO

A MAN has been charged after shocking footage of emus deliberately being mown down went viral on social media.

Ouyen police have charged a 20-year-old Cowangie man after a cruelty to wildlife incident over the past two weeks.

The incident occurred on Pellaring Road, in Cowangie — 540km northwest of Melbourne and 40km from the South Australian border — between September 1-20 when a number of emus were allegedly struck by a vehicle.

The man has been interviewed and is expected to be charged on summons with aggravated cruelty to an animal, cruelty to an animal, torment to an animal, destruction of protected wildlife and a number of traffic related offences including using a mobile phone while driving and speeding.

He will face the Ouyen Court on November 9.

It comes after a Victorian man receiving death threats on social media over the video was desperately fighting to clear his name.

Joshua McConnell said he had been receiving death threats from around the world but that he wasn’t behind the sickening attack.

The footage shows a man laughing while running over several emus in a 4WD.

The RSPCA posted the disturbing footage on social media, launching a nationwide hunt for the driver.

“I’ve done nothing wrong,” he told the Herald Sun this morning.

“I’ve copped hundreds of death threats to myself and my family. I’m done with it.”

RSCPA posted about the emu attack on its Facebook page.

Footage from the emu video. Joshua McConnell says this is not him.

The video starts with a man filming himself on a mobile phone speeding along a dirt road.

“F---ing emus,” he is heard yelling from behind the camera.

He continues to speed along the road and eventually catches up with a group of the native birds desperately trying to flee.

The man can be heard laughing maniacally as he ploughs through the cluster of giant birds.

“One, two, three,” he laughs, “This is f---ing great. I’ve got that one too … and that one.”

The video goes for about 40 seconds and in that time he appears to hit 13 or 14 birds.

At the end of the video the man turns the camera to face him and films himself laughing uncontrollably and screaming “Yes!” at the camera.

Joshua McConnell says he hunts feral animals, not Australian wildlife.

Joshua said he understood why people were pointing the finger at him.

“I tagged a mate in the video and someone clicked on my profile and saw that I go hunting so people assume it’s me,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s right what he did. I hunt feral animals not native Australian animals.

“It’s damaging Australian wildlife.”

He also admitted he can see a resemblance between himself and the offender.

“I agree it looks like me but it’s not. I’ve copped hundreds of death threats for something I didn’t do.”

Joshua said he had contacted the person he believed filmed the video.

“He deleted Facebook but I found his Instagram he can’t hide,” he said.

“I told him he needs to man up. He’s being a pu**y and letting other people take the fall for him.”

A vile comment posted to Joshua.

The sickening video was uploaded to Facebook and appears to have been filmed in the Australian outback, though it is unclear exactly where it took place.

Joshua said he was in Canada and had been for the past eight months.

When he returns he will be taking action.

“I’m sure as hell not gonna deal with this. I’m gonna go to a solicitor. People are sharing my numberplate online and it’s not right,” he said.

“I’m a wakeboarder travelling the world doing what I love. I’ve got a good name and this is ruining it.”

A spokesperson from Queensland RSPCA, who was investigating the incident, said it was possible the person had been identified.

“It does seem highly likely that they’ve identified the person as coming from South Australia,” he said.

A spokeswoman for RSPCA South Australia said: “We are shocked and horrified by this footage.

“No one has formally identified this person.

“We have has several names put forward as the possible person responsible and we are urgently seeking further information.

“Specifically we need someone to come forward who believed they know this person personally and can formally identify him.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact RSPCA on 1300 477 722.