'He's going nuts' - hamster survives after thugs feed it LSD

A Lancaster man who was filmed feeding LSD and cannabis to his pet hamster has been imprisoned for four months.

Footage released by the RSPCA shows Nchinumya Ntembe, 22, pouring Tizer laced with LSD into a water bottle which he then gives to the animal.

As the hamster starts drinking the liquid an onlooker can be heard laughing and saying: "He's going nuts! He's doing something weird."

The footage then shows the hamster, named Mr Chow, chewing on cannabis leaves as they're pushed through the bars of its cage.

The hamster, Mr Chow, has now been rehomed.
The hamster, Mr Chow, has now been rehomed. Credit: RSPCA

Ntembe pleaded guilty to five animal cruelty offences at Lancaster Magistrates' Court on Monday, with other charges relating to the mistreatment of two pet dogs, named Zeus and Faith.

His four month sentence will run concurrent to a sentence he is already serving, and he has also been banned from keeping animals for eight years.

RSPCA Inspector Sarah Hayland said: "It’s clear that Ntembe and the other man involved with the hamster incident - who has already been dealt with - are aware that what they are doing could cause Mr Chow suffering.

"They can be heard saying things like 'This could be the end for Mr Chow' and egging each other on to give him more drugs.

The LSD was put in Tizer in the pet's water bottle
The LSD was put in Tizer in the pet's water bottle Credit: RSPCA

"There were three dogs at the property - two of them belonging to Ntembe and one to another of the defendants.

"It’s clear that Ntembe and the other man involved with the hamster incident - who has already been dealt with - are aware that what they are doing could cause Mr Chow suffering.

"They can be heard saying things like “This could be the end for Mr Chow” and egging each other on to give him more drugs.

"Ntembe’s dogs Zeus and Faith were in a terrible state. Zeus’ face was so swollen it was a completely different shape to the shape it should have been and both were very thin and living in."

The hamster and dogs have now been rehomed. Ms Hayland said: “The dogs have done amazingly at RSPCA Blackpool & North Lancs Branch and the pictures of them now and then are quite extraordinary. They just don’t look like the same animals."

 

License this content