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Help required. Neighbour has shot Collared Dove in my garden. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bristolbirder
- Start date
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
I have an entry wound scar on my arm, how's about that for evidence? I didn't even get a visit from Plod. I have also reported the shooting of passerines on the edge of a housing estate, to be met with the response "well, there's too many birds 'round there anyway, aren't there Sir?". Do you think the response in this case was about right? Regardless of whether the complainant was happy, do you think it was reasonable to leave this weapon with teenagers when they've twice shot it into gardens at wild birds? Not only did it take several days for them to respond, but they didn't even confiscate the weapon even though they had the power to. I'd call that pretty crap. And it's hard to see the reason for it apart from an avoidance of processing it.
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bristolbirder
Well-known member
Paul - Yes, I am happy with the police response. It's difficult to see what more they could do with the lack of evidence on who actually fired the air rifle. I have been given the investigating officer's name and mobile number in case of any futher incidents or repercussions.
dafi & Poecile - The bird does not appear to be in any sort of distressed state and seems quite content. It has now got to the stage of waiting by the bag of seed in the morning waiting to be fed! I can't imagine that any vet would actually treat it other than destroy it. Surely it's better to give the bird a fighting chance of making a recovery isn't it? I can't be sure that the pellet is still in the bird so maybe there is a smal chance that the wound will heal.
Rod - Thanks for best wishes from a fellow City fan!
Kathy - I share your sentiments completely and agree with everything you said.
Steve
dafi & Poecile - The bird does not appear to be in any sort of distressed state and seems quite content. It has now got to the stage of waiting by the bag of seed in the morning waiting to be fed! I can't imagine that any vet would actually treat it other than destroy it. Surely it's better to give the bird a fighting chance of making a recovery isn't it? I can't be sure that the pellet is still in the bird so maybe there is a smal chance that the wound will heal.
Rod - Thanks for best wishes from a fellow City fan!
Kathy - I share your sentiments completely and agree with everything you said.
Steve
dafi
Well-known member
Sorry bristolbirder but dont you think there might be a chance of an infection. Have you not heard of antibiotics and medicin. The vets are the ones to make these desisions. take it to your local vet. contact the RSPCA and they will help The PDSA will help if money is a problem. it seems to me that those kids are not the only ones who should be reported to the police here. Waiting to see if this bird dies of its wounds and doing nothing is just a pretty mean way of going about things.
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
That's out of order I think. Steve's doing what he thinks is right. Unfortunately though, it probably IS illegal, what you're doing, as it's illegal to not seek vetinary help. Prolonging the suffering and all that. It might not seem to be in distress, but how would you know if it was? What does a distressed dove look like? It's tempting to see it in terms of fighting chances, but take it from me, it really doesn't have one. By the sounds of it, it has major skeletal and muscle injury. the pellet will still be in there, as if it wasn't there'd be a bigger exit wound. Birds don't recover from those types of injuries as the flight machinery needs to be perfect or it just doesn't work. Yes, this bird will probably live a while, but it will never fly. What are you going to do with it? keep it in a shed for the rest of its days? It's a wild animal, not a pet, it really is better off dead than be scared witless every time you approach for the next yera or so. Vets usually do this for free. By keeping it, in a box, you're just prolonging the inevitable. I don't want to say that you're cruel, because you're doign what you think is kind, but what you're doing isn't kind at all. It's got no chance, and a box in a garage is no place for a wild animal to spend the rest of its life.
Got to agree with Poecile here, an airgun was used to shoot into another person's garden. The owner, I presume, of the gun is known and therefore, whether he shot it himself or not, is liable to ensure it is not used in an unlawful manner. The fact that this is not the first time just further strengthens the case. Anybody who thinks the police response was sufficient, ask yourself if those kids (still having the gun) decide to shoot another bird, but miss and hit somebody in the eye, is it then okay to say that the gun shouldn't have been confiscated.
dafi
Well-known member
Poecile,
I agree i might be a bit out of order here as Steve is not delibratly inflicting suffering but doing the wrong thing for what he sees as the right reason.
I compleatly agree with the your post. I think you have it spot on. I would urge him to do right thing by the bird.
as to the cops well it dont inspire confidence or trust in there abilities to deal with wildlife crime let alone indiscriminate shooting in the urban setting!!
I agree i might be a bit out of order here as Steve is not delibratly inflicting suffering but doing the wrong thing for what he sees as the right reason.
I compleatly agree with the your post. I think you have it spot on. I would urge him to do right thing by the bird.
as to the cops well it dont inspire confidence or trust in there abilities to deal with wildlife crime let alone indiscriminate shooting in the urban setting!!
saluki
Well-known member
Me too. The reaction of the police, considering this is the second time such an incident has occurred, has been p*ss poor in my opinion.
Jonathan
martin kitching
Obsessed seawatcher
We have had several incidents involving firearms recently in our local nature reserve. Firearms incidents are supposed to be dealt with by firearms units, so Conorbirda2 is wrong on that count at least. The procedure round here is that the helicopter is also called, if it is available. One incident involved a protracted discussion with a police sergeant who repeatedly asked me if I was sure that a shotgun was being discharged behind my house. By the time the helicopter and back-up on the ground arrived, the perpetrator had hidden his gun and told the police that he was just an innocent dog-walker and he hadn't heard any shots being fired.
The other major incident actually occurred in the middle of the afternoon on August Bank Holiday Monday. So, a nature reserve full of families and 2 idiots firing air rifles in part of the wood...when the helicopter arrived, with support on the ground, the 2 guys were apprehended. They said that they were very sorry and they didn't know that they weren't allowed to shoot in the nature reserve. The outcome of this was that their weapons were returned to them and they were sent on their way. Yep, wildlife and gun crime is certainly taken seriously...
Luckily I have a meeting with our Chief Inspector on Thursday so I'll be voicing my concerns in person.
cheers
martin
a.dancy
Registered User
Can I suggest you ring the Avon wildlife Trust (0117 926 8018) and ask their advice regarding a local rehabilitator. I think that you should let an expert decide the fate of the bird.
I think that you should make demands to have the air rifle confiscated and destroyed. Do you honestly expect it is going to be used for anything legal in the future? ... I do not think so. You can rest assured more birds will be shot.
As regards the specifics of the gun and wildlife crime there is not enough information to comment on the legal issues here. However it is probably enough that a crime has been committed with the gun/rifle and the police can in my view on that basis confiscate the weapon. Various laws attach to the power of air rifles and some are treated as firearms .
Police forces are not very consistent with the manner in which such crime is approached ...some are good and some are bad. I got shot at once with what appeared to be a high power air rifle when I was photographing dippers. The shooters also started firing at the traffic! When I made my escape I was shot at again, then the shooters shot at two girls. I phoned the police and kept an eyeball on the shooters and told the police if they wanted to catch the culprits they could contact me on my mobile phone whilst I tracked them. I waited an hour. Did the police show up ....no, though they assured me they did:flyaway:. Is it no wonder that this sort of crime is so common? I think you should keep on at the police.
Regards
Adrian
I think that you should make demands to have the air rifle confiscated and destroyed. Do you honestly expect it is going to be used for anything legal in the future? ... I do not think so. You can rest assured more birds will be shot.
As regards the specifics of the gun and wildlife crime there is not enough information to comment on the legal issues here. However it is probably enough that a crime has been committed with the gun/rifle and the police can in my view on that basis confiscate the weapon. Various laws attach to the power of air rifles and some are treated as firearms .
Police forces are not very consistent with the manner in which such crime is approached ...some are good and some are bad. I got shot at once with what appeared to be a high power air rifle when I was photographing dippers. The shooters also started firing at the traffic! When I made my escape I was shot at again, then the shooters shot at two girls. I phoned the police and kept an eyeball on the shooters and told the police if they wanted to catch the culprits they could contact me on my mobile phone whilst I tracked them. I waited an hour. Did the police show up ....no, though they assured me they did:flyaway:. Is it no wonder that this sort of crime is so common? I think you should keep on at the police.
Regards
Adrian
bristolbirder
Well-known member
The Collared Dove has now been taken to the vet's and destroyed.
Thanks to all those who have tried to help with the exception of dafi whose comments I found deeply offensive and upsetting.
Steve
Thanks to all those who have tried to help with the exception of dafi whose comments I found deeply offensive and upsetting.
Steve
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
Chin up, mate. Sometimes the kindest thing is the hardest thing to do. That's usually the case with wildlife.
Conorbirda2
Well-known member
Martin, Not all firearms incidents are dealt with by firearms units. A report of "someone has just shot a bird in my garden" will not be met with 20+ armed reponse officers surrounding a house! It will be dealt with by a local response unit who will evaluate the seriousness of the incident. The incident will probably be monitored by a Armed Response Sgt who will be fed back to by the PC's at the scene. So i am NOT wrong on that count, you are!
As for the incident in your local park, what more of a response do you want! Police on the ground AND a helicopter!! They catch the culprits, who state they did not know they were not allowed to shoot in the wood, okay that may be a blag to the cops, but can you prove it?? Were they deliberately shooting at Families in the vicinity? I'd say a helicopter and officers on the ground attending WAS taking the incident seriously, would you?
Conorbirda2
Well-known member
:t: Well done Steve. You did your best. Personally i would have killed it myself but respect to you for trying. I suggest most people would have done the same as you. Im also glad that you were pleased with the police response and realistic enough to understand that they probably did all they could with what they had. Everyone (especially a few narrow minded people on here) manages to find someway of slagging the police off when they dont do exactly what that person wants or get the result they want. They dont see the wider picture unfortunately and expect theirs is the most important job those officers have to deal with that day! Sorry about the Dove mate but again well done for at least trying.
Good on you Steve, you can only do your best. I had four White Stork chicks bloodied and badly injured at the beginning of spring, all less than a week old. Between them, they had gaping neck wounds, head injuries, one was gurgling blood, another stabbed through the back and none would take food. No vet would help me, not even loo at them. Though the odds were against me and someone suggested I should have just left them, a view I was very disappointed to hear, I worked to get them back to health and closed the injuries best I could. Two did not survive the first 24 hours, the other two (including the one with a gaping neck wound) did - three months later, after being hacked back to the wild, both successfully left for their migration to Africa. Sometimes you have to do what you feel is right.
Conorbirda2
Well-known member
Bravo. That must have been fairly time consuming! I take it the injuries were human inflicted?
It would have been a mammoth undertaking and I had already begun to lay off work commitments, but fortunately (until then unknown to me) there exists a single place in Lithuania that takes in orphaned storks with the view to release back to the wild. Once the storks went there, my struggle was over, theirs was to last longer.
Story is here
http://josstratford.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=33
(website is having occasional problem at the moment, so if link doesn't work try again later, then it will!)
Conorbirda2
Well-known member
Wow. Great photos too.
Hi Jos
Super website Jos
Great story, and super pictures to see the Storks grow too. You tried the best for the 2 that did not make it, and it took a lot of time and patience for you to do.
It must have been a great achievement for you. :t:
Regards
Kathy
Super website Jos
Great story, and super pictures to see the Storks grow too. You tried the best for the 2 that did not make it, and it took a lot of time and patience for you to do.
It must have been a great achievement for you. :t:
Regards
Kathy
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