More decorated birds found

Seven pigeons sitting on eggs were temporarily seized from a Wellington property after they were found dressed in Christmas paraphernalia.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) visited a private aviary on Tuesday afternoon after it called on the public to help it figure out who had been attaching trinkets, such as tinsel and ribbon, to nonnative birds, primarily in the suburb of Kilbirnie.

SPCA Central Region general manager Ros Alsford said inspectors arrived at the address about 2.30pm where seven pigeons, dressed with Christmas tinsel and bows, were found nesting in an open-air aviary.

The birds were brought into the Wellington centre in a distressed state and were checked by a veterinarian who removed all the items attached to them.

They were otherwise in good health, and were returned to the property before 5pm, ‘‘to ensure the safety of the eggs’’.

‘‘Some [decorations] were incredibly tight around their wings and causing restrictions to their flight ability.’’

The SPCA was not yet sure whether the owners of the aviary were responsible for attaching tinsel to the pigeons, Alsford said.

‘‘The aviary was a very nice aviary.’’

The SPCA would continue to investigate, and it encouraged the public to continue to make contact if they spotted distressed birds.

‘‘It’s a very new case. ‘‘We’re incredibly delighted that we’ve had a breakthrough and hopefully putting this case to rest.’’

Investigators would be looking at evidence the SPCA had found in coming days, Alsford said.

The incidents began in 2017 but increased last year, in particular across the Christmas and New Year period.

Aside from tinsel, birds were found with strips of metal ribbon wrapped around their legs.

The animals brought into the Wellington SPCA branch were either at the point of starvation, or dead. Unfortunately, those that had survived were in such a poor state that they had to be euthanised.

Anyone with information or sightings of decorated birds can contact the SPCA ‘s Wellington centre on (04) 389 8044.

‘‘Some [decorations] were incredibly tight around their wings and causing restrictions to their flight ability.’’

SPCA Central Region general manager Ros Alsford

WELLINGTON SPCA Wellington SPCA called on the public to help solve an act of ‘‘cruelty’’ that led to dozens of birds dying as a result of being decorated in items such as tinsel and ribbons.