The wife of disgraced British zoologist Adam Britton has finally spoken out, a year after her husband was arrested for one of Australia’s most shocking animal abuse cases.
In an emotional interview with 60 Minutes Australia, she branded her husband a “m-nster”, expressing disbelief and horror over the crimes committed under her nose.
Britton, once a respected crocodile expert in the Northern Territory, was exposed as a depraved predator who filmed himself r#ping, t#rturing, and k#lling dogs, many of which he described as his “f**ing toys.”
Court documents revealed that Britton carried out the atrocities inside a shipping container on his rural property, dubbed his private “torture room.” Over 42 animals were targeted in what prosecutors described as some of the most disturbing cases of animal cruelty ever seen.
The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to 60 charges, including the rape of puppies, and was sentenced to 10 years and 5 months in prison, with a six-year non-parole period.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the scandal broke, his wife said: “I cannot comprehend still, how somebody can be so depraved, so evil. He’s destroyed my entire life.”
She added: “It’s going to be hard for me to go back because there was so much I loved about that property.
“It was amazing and it’s part of me. Everything in my world changed.”
According to her, she revealed that she and her husband kept crocodiles and also ran a wildlife consulting business. But when Erin was away on exhibitions, more sinister things were going on there.
She said: “I was away at the time. I had no idea why or what the crimes were, no knowledge at all.
“I didn’t find out until I spoke to his lawyer the following morning…she told me that there were crimes of animal cruelty and beastiality…my brain was like denial, no.
“Hearing that information is the most awful thing you could ever hear about your partner. It was so shocking and I felt sick.
“I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t think. My brain was having trouble processing and understanding how such a horrible thing could even exist in the world.
During their search, police discovered dog remains in a fridge, along with filming equipment that Britton had used to record his disturbing acts.
In messages shared with his followers on the dark web, he openly confessed: “I love to h*rt dogs, I live for it. I can’t stop myself from doing it.”
When asked if she had been aware of her husband’s double life, she responded: “That’s the question I’ve been asking myself every day. Why did I not know? What did I miss?
“Scratching my head, trying to play back events of the last few years to see if there’s any detail but there’s nothing.”
“We were living in separate rooms at that time. We still had a very good close bond, partnership/friendship but it had been a number of years since we were romantically together.
“He was spending a lot of time on his computer. When I talked to him, he was quite withdrawn, increasingly so.
“I only found out recently that my former pets (they’ve passed on) were probably victims and I feel terribly sad for them.”
Asked if she considers her husband as a serial k-ller, she added: “Here is a situation which is off the scale, off the charts, that’s never been heard of. How do you deal with something like that?”
