A Brisbane man who bit the head off a live rat in an attention-seeking online stunt says he's remorseful but doesn't think his antics were "that bad".
Matthew Clement Maloney, 25, appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to inflicting unnecessary pain on a domestic rat at Albion in January.
Magistrate Suzette Coates ordered him to complete 100 hours of community service, pay court costs and banned him from owning a pet for three years.
She recorded a conviction and described his behaviour as "rabid, narcissistic (and) attention-seeking".
But outside court, the electrician didn't appear to see what the fuss was about.
"I don't think it was that bad," he said.
"There's a lot worse stuff you could've done - buy rat poison, rat traps."
He said he agreed with the court's decision but didn't understand how the RSPCA could have proven the animal's death would have been painful.
"Who said it was in a lot of pain?" he said.
"I don't know how they could've proven that when they test on rats all the time."
He was charged after posting a video to his Facebook page on January 16, showing him grabbing a live, small white rat, biting its head off and swallowing it.
Later, a post on the page said those who took offence to the clip were "a bunch of sissies" who needed to "accept the food chain".
In court, lawyer Nick Dore said Maloney's offending followed a melanoma diagnosis.
RSPCA senior inspector Georgia Sakrzewski said the organisation was pleased with the outcome but it was hard to say whether Maloney was genuinely sorry for his actions.
Ms Sakrzewski accepted he would have been somewhat destabilised by the news about his health but said only a "silly idiot" would have resorted to such behaviour.
"If that's what you have to do to get attention in life, it's a really sad indictment on you," she said.
