The Outback Wrangler, Matt Wright, has opened up about his decision to adopt a famous saltwater crocodile once owned by a disgraced zoologist who raped, tortured and murdered dozens of pet dogs.
British crocodile expert Adam Britton, 53, was sentenced to ten years behind bars in the Northern Territory Supreme Court in August after pleading guilty to 63 charges of bestiality, animal cruelty, and possessing child abuse material.
Britton, who once hosted Sir David Attenborough at his home - sourced the dogs from Gumtree Australia over a two-year period for the sole purpose of torturing them to death on camera.
When police raided his McMinns Lagoon property in 2022, they found a disturbing array of cameras, external hard drives, tools, weapons, dog paraphernalia, and sex toys.
They also found severed dog limbs in a large freezer, a decomposing puppy in a pond on the property, and a severed dog head on a neighbouring property.
His ex-wife Erin, who spent a lot of time on work expeditions and didnt know about Brittons antics until police called her, told 60 Minutes recently that he was likely feeding dog remains to his pet crocodile, Smaug.
After Brittons horror was exposed, Smaug was then taken to live on a property owned by Wright, who was made famous by various TV series about his conservation efforts, particularly with crocodiles.
Now, Wright has told Daily Mail Australia that Smaug is a happy croc whose diet comprises chicken, wild pigs, roadkill, fresh fish, and beef as a treat - a far cry from the rotting dog carcasses he was accustomed to.
Adam Britton (centre) with his wife Erin (left) and David Attenborough (right) during filming for a BBC documentary
Outback Wrangler Matt Wright (pictured with a different crocodile) adopted Smaug, Brittons famous saltwater crocodile
Hes going really well and is one of the healthiest crocs we have, Wright said.
Hes not backwards about coming forwards though and weve reinforced his pen because every time you go near it he launches up the side of it.
Were planning on building him a bigger pen soon.
Britton and Erin used to run their own consultancy company, Big Gecko, which sold footage of crocodiles to television and film directors. They worked with natural history shows with the BBC and National Geographic.
Smaug became a celebrity in his field and appeared in two horror films.
During a Covid lockdown in 2020, the former husband-and-wife duo filmed themselves feeding a freshwater crocodile called Njall on their property.
In the video, Britton faced the camera and said: Hello everyone, Adam here. Well, were at home at the moment and weve got to feed the crocodiles.
So what Im going to do is, Im going to hand this camera to Erin.
Pictured: Smaug the saltwater crocodile on a property in the NT, owned by Matt Wright
Matt Wright said Smaug (pictured) is one of his healthiest crocodiles
She smiled into the lens and said, enthusiastically, Hi everybody, before she took the camera and filmed Britton feeding chicken legs to Njall with a large pair of tongs.
During the 60 Minutes episode, Erin said she was in a state of disbelief when police told her what Britton was doing to dogs while she was away on expeditions.
When she told me [it was] bestiality, my brain was like denial, she said.
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.
Last year, Britton pleaded guilty to 63 charges of animal abuse, bestiality, and possession of child exploitation material.
Adam Britton is pictured with his ex-wife, Erin. They were married for at least 15 years
He confessed to killing at least 39 dogs which he called f*** toys, filming the abuse of puppies, and sharing his depraved interests under pseudonyms online.
Britton also sexually abused his own Swiss Shepherd pets, Ursa and Bolt, for almost a decade until he eventually took to Gumtree Australia to source more dogs to kill.
Until his 2022 arrest, he managed to keep his disturbing fantasies a secret.
In a message read to the court, Britton spoke about his urges to a stranger on Telegram: I had repressed it. In the last few years I let it out again, and now I cant stop. I dont want to.
Many of his crimes against animals were so graphic and disturbing that Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to publish them.