Protected Status Of Attacking Seagulls Angers Cornwall Family Whose Pet Dog Died From Bird’s Pecks

Because seagulls are protected species in the UK, residents could not do anything about the attack that these avians do on animals and people. The attack could be fatal like what happened to the eight-year-old Yorkshire terrier named Roo that was pecked on the head by a seagull at its owner’s home at St Columb Minor near Mewquay.

The Telegraph reports on Wednesday that the wounds on the dog’s head resulted in brain damage. The animal, owned by 3-year-old Jace Corr, was euthanised by the veterinarian who declared that the dog would not survive the wounds caused by the Herring gulls which likely attacked to protect their nests.

Jace was in the garden when the incident happened. He suddenly screamed that Roo is bleeding, recounts Emily Vincent, his mother. She saw the pooch, which ran to the kitchen, lying on its side collapsed, and it was bloody. They rushed Roo, still breathing then, to the animal hospital.

“It was like a murder scene. I could not get any sense out of Jace initially but then he kept saying the big bird has got sharp teeth,” Emily recounts. She took a photo of the bloodied pet and showed it to the council to know her rights as homeowner on removing the bird’s nest on her property.

However, to her dismay, the council told her that the seagulls are protected and she cannot touch its nest. The mum of four kids and owner of two more dogs – Maltese Terriers named Millie and Louis – fear that the seagulls could attack her kids and pets even if they are not touching the bird’s nest.

She said that Jace was traumatised by the incident and often bursts in tears randomly. “It could have been my child that was hurt and there is nothing I can do about it,” Emily said in anger.

Britain’s Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects birds, its nests, eggs and chicks. The law considers it an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird or intentionally take, damage or destroy its nest in use or being built as well as its eggs, according to PC Paul Freestone, wildlife crimes officer of the Devon and Cornwall Police. Protection starts as soon as the bird lays down a few bits of nest material.

In May, a seagull killed a Chihuahua named Bella, owed by Nikki Wayne, in their family garden at Honiton, Devon. In Caenerfon, Wales, seagulls attacked shoppers and tourists, which led business owners to call on the council to act on the persistent problem by controlling the birds’ numbers.

Besides pecking people, the seagulls also swoop and snatch food of customers dining al fresco and leave droppings near the tables, pub owners complained. The Gwynedd Council believes the root of the problem is food left or thrown on the streets which attract winged, but dangerous, protective creatures.

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