Man Kills Grey with BB gun

[Lisa B]

Wed Sep 9, 2009

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office wants a Randolph man psychologically evaluated before it decides how to handle charges that he killed his family's African grey parrot with three BB-gun shots as it squawked while he watched a NASCAR race.


Dennis Zeglin, 67, was charged with animal cruelty in June after he shot "Mikey'' -- a family pet for 20 years -- because the bird annoyed his television watching on June 7. The charges might be reviewed by a county grand jury, but defense attorney Stephen Fletcher said the prosecutor's office has requested a psychiatric evaluation before it decides whether Zeglin might be appropriate for admission to the county's Pre-Trial Intervention program.

PTI is a probationary program for first-time offenders. If the defendant satisfies a period of probation and other conditions, criminal charges are dismissed and he or she does not have a criminal record.

Fletcher said that Zeglin was intoxicated when he turned a BB gun on the parrot. Zeglin's alarmed wife called police, and he was taken first to Morristown Memorial Hospital and later spent a few days at Summit Oaks.

''He's been in a program for alcohol abuse since this incident and he's working that program diligently,'' Fletcher said.

[Lisa B]

Randolph man indicted on charges of shooting pet parrot with BB gun

By Jim Lockwood/The Star-Ledger

February 02, 2010, 1:40PM


.RANDOLPH -- A 67-year-old Randolph man accused of shooting and killing his pet parrot because it allegedly annoyed him while he was drunk and watching a NASCAR race on television was indicted today on a charge of animal cruelty.
Dennis Zeglin was charged with killing his 20-year-old pet African gray parrot, Mikey, on June 7 at 4:30 p.m., by shooting the bird three times with a BB gun, court documents stated.

An indictment handed up by a grand jury in Morristown accuses Zeglin of one count of third-degree animal cruelty, a crime punishable by three-to-five years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine.

At the time of the incident, Zeglin’s wife, who was upstairs, came down to find Zeglin still sitting in his chair and the bird dead in its cage, court documents stated. Zeglin cooperated with police and voluntarily turned over his Daisy Powerline Model 93 CO2-cartridge BB gun so it could be destroyed.
After the shooting, Zeglin was treated for alcoholism, his attorney said.