Australian banned from owning pets after biting off rat's head says his action wasn't 'that bad'

Matthew Maloney told reporters outside court his actions were not "that bad". Photo / Facebook

An Australian man banned from owning pets for three years after biting off a rat's head has said his actions weren't "that bad".

Matthew Maloney, known as "Mad Matt", was charged following a raid in January by RSPCA investigators after he posted a video of the bizarre stunt on Facebook.

The 25-year-old admitted one count of animal cruelty in Brisbane Magistrates Court and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service, while being slapped with the pet ban.

Magistrate Suzette Coates described him as a "narcissist" and he expressed remorse, although he told reporters outside court that his actions "weren't that bad", according to ABC News.

"There's a lot of worse stuff you could have done. Buy rat poison, all that stuff, rat traps," he said.

"I just don't think it was how they made it out to be."

Asked if he felt bad that the animal was in a lot of pain, Mr Maloney said he did not think the animal had suffered much.

"[The RSPCA] said it was in 29 seconds of pain. I don't know how they could have proven that when they test on rats all the time," he said.

The graphic video, which has been seen more than 236,000 times, shows Mr Maloney storming into a room, biting off the rat's head and washing it down with three shots of vodka. He then gets punched in the face and has a chair broken over his back before saying "beat that".

The clip, which was reportedly an attempt to create a disturbing new social-media challenge, drew a string of comments branding him disgusting.

"What made you do this?" said one viewer. "Like what did you get out of it? It's just sick and inhuman."

He was unrepentant at the time, though, and dismissed the criticism.

"All your comments are cracking me up and not one person out there will be able to say anything that will make me feel bad or make me regret what i did," he wrote on Facebook.

"Its mother nature and mans gotta eat!"

Georgia Sakrzewski, RSPCA prosecutor, said she was very happy with the outcome.

"I think that he was wanting attention from social media and I don't think he gave much thought as to what he was actually doing in terms of the pain and suffering that he was causing to that animal," she said.