Great Falls Man Sentenced for Animal Cruelty After Attacking Macaw

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A Great Falls man convicted of animal cruelty has been sentenced to two years in prison with no time suspended for attacking a macaw on Thanksgiving.

KFBB-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1FWsH9m ) that 53-year-old David Alton Boyken was sentenced this week for breaking the leg of a macaw and oinking and choking the bird. He was found guilty in August.

During the trial, prosecutors described how Boyken pulled out the bird's flight feathers and broke her leg so severely it had to be amputated.

According to court documents, Boyken told officers that the bird bit him, but he also said the bird was attacked by his daughter's small dogs. Police say Boyken was highly intoxicated.

Boyken has a previous conviction of animal cruelty for cutting a dog's throat.