Pigeons maimed in Manchester

[Peckedhen]

 

Article in local paper:

 

http://www.middletonguardian.co.uk/n...ty_claims.html

 

The RSPCA have since admitted that public had been misinformed and a new statement would have to be issued retracting the old statement and informing the public that this is indeed a mutilation and therefore a cruelty case.

 

 

[Guest]

I'm getting a broken link, Peckedhen. Any chance of posting the article?

[westy]

yh bruno and i did

[Peckedhen]

Sorry about that! I think this one works:

 

http://www.middletonguardian.co.uk/news/s/210/210273_police_to_probe_bird_cruelty_claims.html

 

 

Just in case it doesn't - here's the article:

 

 

 

Police to probe bird cruelty claims

 

A BEAKLESS pigeon, which may have been attacked by a sadist.

 

AN avian expert believes an animal sadist may be targeting Middleton’s pigeon population.

 

And now Middleton police are set to investigate if someone is deliberately targeting the birds.

 

As reported in the Guardian last week, over the past few weeks shoppers and residents have seen several birds in Middleton town centre suffering without beaks and struggling to eat.

 

Although the birds are often considered a nuisance by some Middleton residents their unjustified suffering could have been caused by acts of animal cruelty.

 

Lesley Crime captured four of the birds in Middleton Gardens on Saturday 4 March and another two on Sunday 5 March. She said: "I saw the birds in Middleton Gardens struggling to eat, they were very weak which made it easy to catch them.

 

"The birds had obviously been harmed and their beaks cut off.

 

"I took them to vet Helen Adsett for treatment but she said that they were not likely to recover.

 

"The thought of someone doing this to the birds makes me feel sick. Whoever is doing it doesn’t care about what they’re doing to the birds and will continue to do it unless they are caught.

 

"Somone who commits such a sick act will stop at nothing and, who knows, they may move on to something bigger and start harming children."

 

Avian veterinarian Helen Adsett, who is based in Blackburn, said: "I am certain that this incident is an act of cruelty.

 

"I have treated many birds from Middleton with their beaks at various stages of healing which tells me it an ongoing act.

 

"For the birds that were brought to me from Middleton there was no hope of survival and I have had to put them to sleep.

 

"I can confirm that there is no known avian disease that causes the birds’ beaks to completely fall off.

 

"By the look of it the beaks have been removed in a straight line by very sharp scissors or wire cutters."

 

Heather Holmes, from the RSPCA said: "Pigeons are a very difficult bird to capture, it’s hard to image someone being able to capture them and then ripping their beaks off without damaging their heads, then releasing them into the town centre.

 

"It is more likely to be some kind of disease.

 

"The RSPCA will look into this case but unless there is an eye witness to acts of cruelty there is little we can do."

 

A spokesman for Middleton police confirmed they have launched a "line of inquiry" into the alleged acts of animal cruelty.

Paneesha Chauhan

 

First published by the Middleton Guardian

 

 

[westy]

thanks peckedhen