A business owner has been jailed after tying a ligature around a kangaroo’s neck and dragging it along a road, leaving the animal so badly injured it had to be euthanised.
According to a report by AAP, Michael Anthony Holmes, 61, was sentenced in Queanbeyan Local Court on Monday after pleading guilty in December to aggravated animal cruelty. He was handcuffed and taken into custody to serve a 15-month prison term, with a non-parole period of eight months.
Magistrate Roger Clisdell said Holmes’ lack of remorse and the gravity of the offence meant he posed too great a risk to the community, leaving the court with no option but immediate imprisonment.
“The kangaroo had to be euthanised. [Holmes] caused immense suffering to the animal,” the magistrate said, as quoted by AAP.
“That sort of behaviour is just absolutely appalling.”
Court documents revealed Holmes first saw the injured female kangaroo near a fence-line on his rural property at Bywong in the NSW Southern Tablelands about 7 am on April 13, 2025. Instead of contacting wildlife rescuers, he returned nine hours later, tied a nylon rope around the animal’s neck and attached it to his vehicle, dragging the kangaroo about 400 metres down a road, as reported by AAP.
He then removed the rope from his vehicle but left a fastened ligature around the animal’s neck.
According to AAP, A passerby later found the kangaroo alive but severely deformed and contacted Wildcare, an animal rescue group. The animal had suffered deep lacerations to its ribs and hip, consistent with being dragged along bitumen. It died shortly after being taken into care.
Police who inspected the scene found tyre tracks mixed with blood and rope along the embankment. Officers later spoke to Holmes at his home, where he admitted the offence and showed no remorse.
He told police he moved the animal so it “wouldn't die on his property” and attract maggots, and referred to kangaroos as “complete vermin” and “jumping rats”.
“He simply thinks kangaroos have no rights ... no entitlement to treatment,” Clisdell said, as quoted by AAP.
The magistrate noted Holmes had ample time to contact a rescue organisation, but instead chose to act with cruelty towards an animal he regarded as a “pest”.
“He has made admissions, but he's not sorry about it. That gives me the very strong impression that he would do it again,” Clisdell said, AAP has quoted.
A photograph tendered in court showed a large section of the kangaroo’s fur stripped from its side, highlighting the severity of the injuries.
Wildcare Queanbeyan micropod co-ordinator Natalie Patrick described the sentence as a “huge win” for animal rights.
“His custodial sentence will hopefully deter other people from committing these senseless acts of cruelty and torture against wildlife,” she told AAP.
Holmes will be eligible for parole in October.
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