Sick thugs kill animals in rampage at mini zoo

The couple behind a much-loved Glasgow petting zoo have ­spoken of their horror after thugs broke in and brutally attacked the animals overnight.

Vandals smashed their way through a back window at Animal Man’s Mini Zoo in Pollokshields and set off on a rampage that left ­animals maimed and dead.

The sick culprits broke a mouse’s back before trying to feed it to a tarantula, and a duck that tried to defend its partner had its bill snapped and the bones around both its eyes caved in.

Kevin and Kate McMillan, who run the zoo on Pollokshaws Road, said they loved the animals like part of the family.

They have issued a heartfelt appeal for the safe return of those pets stolen in the break-in, which occurred overnight between Friday and Saturday.

A tortoise named Michelle has been taken, along with two ducks, five bearded lizards, some baby rabbits and a guinea pig.

The animals have no resale value, but their owners fear they will die within days unless they are given the specialist care they need.

Mr McMillan said: “We just miss them. A lot of them are hand-reared from babies, from an egg right up to the way they are now.”

The couple are offering a cash reward for the safe return of the missing animals.

The break-in was repor­ted to police on Saturday morning, when a mini zoo employee arriving at work walked in on the carnage.

Bars on a back window had been forced with a crowbar or similar object, and the glass pushed in. Almost every enclosure had been smashed open, Mr McMillan said, and the animals cruelly attacked.

They were part of a popular children’s party business, and thousands of kids across the city have attended the cowboy-themed events where they are allowed to handle the tame animals.

Because they were raised as pets, the missing animals cannot survive on their own in the wild. The ducks have had their wings clipped, and would be dead within days if released in a pond.

The bearded lizards need heat lamps and UV lights, and must be kept at temperatures between 72-80F or they will freeze to death.

The tortoise, which was rescued from an animal sanctuary, needs a diet of leafy green vegetables and fruit. It will die if fed lettuce, which has too much water in it.

“The baby rabbits aren’t old enough to come off their mother’s milk,” Mr McMillan added. “They’ve not taken the mother – just the babies. They could probably be ­bottle fed, but you’d need to know what you were doing.”

Ms McMillan said: “I’ve not slept at all – I was terrified that they’d come back last night.

“They’re just sick people. Sometimes we hear young guys drinking behind there, but it seems like they’ve been organised in advance.”

The window to the animals’ enclosure has now been bricked up, and the McMillans have called in specialists to install a state-of-the-art security system.

Police have urged members of the public who are approached by anyone ­selling unusual animals to contact them.