The man charged with mowing down a mob of emus says it was 'funny at the time'

The sickening footage, which was shared on Facebook, shows MacDonald counting along as he hits each bird. Photo / Facebook

WARNING: Confronting footage.

The man charged with mowing down a mob of emus in his car while laughing maniacally, then sharing the sickening footage with his friends, says it was "funny at the time".

Footage of the barbaric incident, which went viral here and abroad when shared on Facebook, saw Jacob MacDonald inundated with furious messages and death threats, reports news.com.au.

The 20-year-old farmhand from Cowangie has also been arrested and charged with animal cruelty, according to Victorian Police.

Authorities said the incident took place on Pallarang Road between September 1 and 20 when a number of emus were run down by MacDonald's car.

"F***ing emus," he is heard yelling from behind the camera while laughing.

"One, two, three," he says. "This is f***ing great. I've got that one too … and that one."

The sickening footage, which was shared on Facebook, shows MacDonald counting along as he hits each bird. Photo / Facebook

In an interview with Seven News, MacDonald said his horrific actions were "funny at the time" and that the footage was only meant for his mates.

"Yeah someone's obviously not as good of a mate as I thought," he told Seven News outside court.

And with the prospect of jail time and a hefty fine, MacDonald isn't laughing now.

"It was a mistake, it was a silly idea. It's not funny anymore, it was at the time. It's the biggest stuff up of my life. I'm not proud of it."

Police said the man was driving recklessly at speeds of up to 120km/h when he ran down several emus near his workplace.

He faces a number of charges, including aggravated cruelty to an animal, cruelty to an animal, torment to an animal, as well as a several traffic-related offences.

He will next appear in court in November.

A concerning outcome of the whole incident was a Melbourne man being wrongly identified on social media and copping countless death threats.

Harrison Hatzis said he'd received an avalanche of threats and a barrage of abuse as a result of the false identification.

This photo of Harrison Hatzis has caused him to be inundated with death threats following a case of mistaken identity. Photo / Facebook

"It's not me," Mr Hatzis told news.com.au.

"My work mate tagged me because I have a photo with an emu on my profile but it's not me in that video."

A spokesperson for the RSPCA said tagging and identifying people through social channels and the media would not necessarily bring the offender to justice.

"Unfortunately the social media forum is unreliable as a source of solid evidence that will hold up in court," she said.

"Our concern is that (incorrect identification) has happened in the past, and innocent people will be blamed for an incident they had no involvement in.

"We are shocked and horrified by the footage, and horrified for animals to be treated in this way as any reasonable person would be. But this is a legal matter that needs to be handled by the appropriate process."