A Florida man was arrested after he was caught on camera battering a rooster named Roger with an umbrella, according to authorities.
Marshall May, 30, was arrested and charged with animal cruelty Monday after surveillance footage revealed he had brutally beaten Roger, who belonged to a neighboring Fort Lauderdale business, according to footage obtained by NBC6.
Roger had flown over a fence and approached the accused abuser near his car on April 15, prompting him to retrieve an umbrella and smack the bird several times, the footage showed.
Roger suffered a broken wing and leg and had to undergo surgery, his disgusted owner, Jamie Carr, told the outlet.
“It was such a brutal and unnecessary beating,” Carr said, noting that May “had ample opportunity to walk away” from Roger.
“He actually went to his car, got the umbrella out of his car after he was already gone, and went and beat him like two to three times.”
Roger is now fully healed after a five-week stint at a local veterinary hospital, Carr said.
Carr — who took in Roger two years ago after finding him on his doorstep — found the bird cowering under a woodpile after the attack.
“Usually, he is the most confident, energetic creature, but he was hiding under the woodpile. We knew it was pretty serious,” he said.
May was arrested on seven counts of aggravated animal cruelty, arrest records show.