A peacock that roamed into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant was attacked by a man who vilified it as a vampire, animal-control authorities said.

Beaten so fiercely that most of its tail feathers fell out, the bird was euthanized, said Richard Gentles of the city’s Center for Animal Care and Control. ”It’s just unbelievable,” Gentles said.

The peacock, a male several years old, wandered into the lot in Staten Island and perched on a car hood Thursday. Employees were feeding it when the man appeared.

The man seized the bird by the neck, hurled it to the ground and started kicking and stomping it. ”He was going crazy,” said worker Felicia Finnegan, 19.

Asked what he was doing, she said, the attacker explained, ” ‘I’m killing a vampire!’ ”

Police were looking for the attacker. It was unclear how the bird got to the lot.
[Posted at: Man Beats Stray Peacock He Mistook For Vampire]