You Don't Want to Interrupt This Guy's NASCAR Watching

As the NASCAR 2010 season prepares to start in the next couple of weeks, let this be a warning to noisy pets everywhere:

A New Jersey man accused of shooting and killing his African gray parrot with a BB gun because its screeching annoyed him while he was watching a NASCAR race on TV has been indicted on an animal cruelty charge.

Dennis Zeglin, 67, of Randolph was indicted Tuesday by a Morris County grand jury. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Zeglin allegedly shot the parrot, named "Mikey," three times on June 7. His wife called police when she saw that the bird had been killed.

Zeglin's attorney, Stephen Fletcher, said his client was intoxicated at the time and afterward received treatment for alcoholism. He said Zeglin regrets the incident and hopes to be accepted into a pretrial intervention program.

Alcohol, NASCAR and BB guns - a dangerous combination.