A Dunedin man has admitted posting about his neighbour’s pet pig on social media, threatening to “personally slit its throat”. Anthony Officer, 36, appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Friday and admitted charges of stealing petrol, speaking threateningly and offensive use of a telephone. The court heard that on June 29, a pet pig from the neighbourhood wandered on to Officer’s property. He posted in a Facebook group: “Whoever owns the f . . . . . . pig thats ripping up my lawn on corstorphine. Come get it before its killed!! I got cats. I will personally slit its throat. [sic]”. He later sent a voice recording directly to the owner of the pig, saying: “ive seen your misus bro, that’s not a woman bro, you f . . . . ., rhat looks more like a man, you b . . . . .[sic]” Officer initially told police it was his friend who made the post on Facebook, not him, but said he was worried about his cats. But yesterday, the defendant admitted he was responsible for the pig threats. “I’ve got no excuse for that, it was disgusting behaviour … I overreacted,” he told the court. The pig had since been re-homed so there had not been any further issues with the neighbour, he said. “It’s water under the bridge, to be honest,” he said. “At least my cats weren’t killed.” Community magistrate Sally O’Brien ordered Officer to pay $90 reparation for petrol he stole on March 23 and deferred his sentence on that charge for six months. The defendant would be sentenced next month on the pig-related charges, after restorative justice had been considered. felicity.dear@odt.co.nz
