Owner jailed as hamster cut up and ate online

A hamster owner was jailed after she filmed cutting up and eating her pet, a court has heard.

Emma Parker, 39, shared the footage online as the pet could be heard squealing. An RSPCA vet described the scenes as “deeply disturbing”. Lincoln Crown Court was told that Parker “takes the knife and plunges it through the opening of the ball moving the knife from side to side. The hamster can be heard repeatedly squealing”.

She told police that she was helping the hamster to die after a dog attack. Parker, of Great Gonerby, was jailed for 12 months and banned from owning animals for 15 years. She admitted a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.