A German court on Wednesday convicted two Romanian men of killing a goat at a petting zoo in Berlin in February, an act they committed because they were hungry, the court heard.

One of the men, who had a previous conviction for theft, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and his accomplice to nine months, both without parole.

The judge said that the men had killed an animal for no good reason and that due to the men not having permanent residency in Germany and no certain income they did not have a favorable social future.

The two Romanians, both 29, broke into the petting zoo in Berlin's Hasenheide park on February 18. One killed "Lilly” the Angora goat while the other kept lookout.

Read more: Spain's wildlife emergency room

They were caught by police, who had been alerted to the incident by residents who heard animal cries.

One of the men was found carrying a knife, and officers also found a rucksack containing a goat's leg and bloody gloves not far from the scene.

Killed due to hunger

At the trial, the two men testified that they had killed the goat because they were hungry.

They admitted to killing the animal in court, but said they only slaughtered the goat because they had not eaten for several days, the Berlin Morgen Post reported.

Both men had come to Berlin in January and had jobs as construction workers, but their wages had been withheld by their employer.

Read more: The don'ts and don'ts of keeping exotic pets

The Berlin court heard that the men had thought the petting zoo was a farm, and that both men had grown up on farms in Romania where it was common practise to raise and slaughter animals, according to the Berlin Morgen Post.

They added that they knew how to slaughter animals without causing them to suffer.

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law/jm (AFP, AP, dpa)

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