Today, humane officers with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (spcaLA) are canvassing the Rolling Hills Estate neighborhood seeking information regarding an incident that occurred on December 21, 2019 involving the death of a peafowl. At approximately 10am, a white SUV traveling on Buckskin Lane, struck and killed a full-grown male peafowl standing in the roadway. Reporting witnesses say the driver made no apparent attempt either to slow down or to otherwise prevent the collision, and claimed the driver did not stop even after crushing the bird with both its front and rear passenger tires.
This incident is very similar to a recent case in Chatsworth, where a driver was found to have intentionally killed a peacock with his vehicle. The man faces two felony animal cruelty charges in violation of California Penal Code 597(a), with a sentencing enhancement for using a vehicle as a deadly weapon.
Since June 2012, more than 60 peafowl have been found dead in the Rolling Hills Estates area. The birds, a fixture of the neighborhood since the late 1800’s, are beloved by some residents and despised by others.
Previous spcaLA investigations employed DNA, fingerprint, surveillance camera analysis, and necropsies to discover the perpetrator or perpetrators of these crimes to no avail.
Individuals with information regarding these crimes are urged to call the spcaLA Cruelty Tipline at 1-800-540-SPCA (7722).
spcaLA incorporated in 1877 to enforce California’s first animal cruelty statute. Today, spcaLA will continue to investigate animal cruelty and prosecute offenders, including those who intentionally maim, mutilate, torture or wound a living peacock or peahen, or who maliciously and intentionally kill peafowl, as pursuant to California Penal Code Section 597.