3 Boys Admit to Killing Of Peacocks In Boyette Springs

RIVERVIEW, FL -- Animal cruelty charges against three teens have been referred to the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office following the killing of two peacocks.

Two peacocks, which have roamed wild for years throughout the Boyette Springs neighborhood in Riverview, were found shot to death with an air rifle on March 20.

The three boys admitted to hunting the peacocks but said they were hunting them for food. Two other boys in the group did not fire an air rifle.

The five boys had a sleepover and decided to go hunting with air rifles during the night. After shooting and killing the birds, they said they began to carry the birds home but ended up dropping the birds in a storm drain in the 12400 block of Windswept Avenue when they became scared they would get in trouble.

The two peacocks were discovered by a resident who reported the killings to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

The birds were not tortured, beaten or mutilated. As a result, the sheriff's office is referring charges of misdemeanor animal abuse rather than the more serious charges of felony animal abuse.