LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A British crocodile expert, Adam Britton, has pleaded guilty to raping dozens of puppies and torturing more than 40 dogs at his animal shelter.
51-year-old Britton, who grew up in West Yorkshire before moving to Australia, admitted to luring pet owners to give him custody of their beloved dogs before abusing them.
Britton, a leading zoologist who has worked with the BBC and National Geographic on productions, pleaded guilty to 56 counts of animal cruelty in court on Monday.
He also pleaded guilty to four counts of accessing and transmitting child abuse material.
Brought before Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, the suspect also admitted to sexually abusing his own Swiss Shepherd pets, Ursa and Bolt, for almost a decade.
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Britton would even film himself torturing the defenceless animals in what he called his “torture room” until most of them died before posting the sick material online, the court heard.
According to reports, the details of Britton’s crimes were so horrific that Chief Justice Michael Grant urged the public and security staff to leave the courtroom before the prosecutors outlined the facts of the case in a rare move.
“These facts contain material that can only be described as grotesque and perverse acts of cruelty which is confronting and distressing and which in my assessment have the potential to cause nervous shock,” he said.
Britton not only tortured and sexually abused his own pets Ursa and Bolt, who he created an Instagram page for, but also dogs from pet owners he had lured into his trap through the online marketplace platform, Gumtree Australia.
Justice Grant adjourned the case till 13 December for sentencing submissions.