A beloved flamingo at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay was euthanized on Tuesday after being attacked by a park guest. Pinky was known for dancing the flamenco and as one of the parks animal ambassadors.
Joseph Corrao, 45, was visiting the park with his mother, brother and three children, police said. He kept messing with the flamingos in the enclosure – picking up one and then setting it back down. His mother told him to leave the flamingos alone when he picked up Pinky.
Instead of complying, he chose to violently hurl Pinky toward the ground, witnesses told police. The impact from the landing nearly ripped one of her feet off.
The 19-year-old Chilean flamingo was taken to the Animal Care Center in the park, but veterinarians were forced to euthanize her to to her extensive traumatic injuries. She will be forever remembered for her love of entertaining through dancing.
Corrao, an Orlando resident, was arrested on a charge of animal cruelty. The charges came a year and 15 days after he executed two chained up dogs with a shotgun at point blank – he claimed the dogs killed his daughters rabbits.
It’s unknown if drugs or alcohol contributed to this particular incident, however, a witness claims he laughed after throwing Pinky.
“It’s beyond senseless,” Hillsborough County Judge John Conrad said, according to a video feed of the court hearing when he called out Corrao. “It actually borders on depraved in my opinion. . . . I don’t know if have you other issues, but I don’t know who does that.”
Corrao has a long history of arrests in Florida, ranging from drug charges, hit and run, child abuse and DUI.
He posted on Facebook the day before about how happy he was to see a Tampa Bay Rays games with his sons, writing, “all u can drink and eat free,” and “i will be tepsy tonight.”
His bail was set at $5,000.
The park issued a statement on Wednesday:
“Yesterday evening at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, an adult male guest attacked one of our animal ambassadors, a Chilean flamingo known as Pinky, causing traumatic injuries.
Pinky was immediately transported to the park’s Animal Care Center where veterinarians made the decision to humanely euthanize her based on the severity of her injuries.
Pinky was a beloved member of the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay family and made many appearances on behalf of the park’s conservation and education efforts. She will be sorely missed.”
