Disturbing reports have surfaced from North Wales, where a sickening trend has emerged involving the intentional luring of gulls onto busy roads, resulting in severe injuries and fatalities among the birds. Bird enthusiasts and animal welfare groups have expressed their outrage over this cruel phenomenon, which sees food tossed onto the road to attract seagulls, causing them to swoop down and into the path of oncoming vehicles. Recent images depict injured birds left on the streets, highlighting the cruelty inherent in this practise.

The Foundation for Feathered Friends (FFF), a non-profit organisation dedicated to bird conservation, has noted a worrying increase in these incidents. A spokesperson for FFF stated, "We've spotted food in the road enticing gulls to swoop in the road," pointing to specific locations such as Abergele, Prestatyn, Rhyl, and Llandudno. This cruel trend has reportedly involved both young individuals and adults, with alarming instances of parents encouraging their children to partake in this activity. In one shocking incident last year in Rhyl, four gulls were found lying in the road, with three already dead and one rescued but ultimately unable to survive.

The situation has escalated to such an extent that schools have been implicated; reports indicated that children in school uniforms were observed tossing food into the streets around Prestatyn. When FFF raised concerns with local schools, they were told that the incidents occurred outside school premises, leaving the institutions with little accountability for their students' actions. Denise Theophilus, founder of the FFF, lamented, "Who in their right mind would deliberately put these birds in danger by making them swoop onto roads to be hit by oncoming cars?"

This troubling behaviour has been mirrored elsewhere. A 2019 incident in Abergele, where a man filmed himself throwing chips into traffic, resulted in the death of at least one gull. The shocking footage circulated online before being removed, with the perpetrator showing no remorse for the act, claiming the birds had stolen his chips. The RSPCA condemned the video and reiterated the legal protections in place for birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which prohibits the intentional injury or killing of wild birds, punishable by up to six months in prison or an unlimited fine.

Further afield, similar acts of cruelty have occurred in the United States. In January 2020, a resident of Laurel, Maryland lured a flock of seagulls to a shopping centre parking lot with popcorn before intentionally running them over, resulting in at least ten bird fatalities. This incident was described by officials as a "senseless act of violence against animals," calling for public assistance to identify the perpetrator, who fled the scene.

The recurring nature of these incidents suggests a growing need for heightened awareness and robust actions to protect vulnerable wildlife from such brutal practices. As awareness of these atrocities rises, conservation groups are pushing for stricter accountability for those who exploit and harm wildlife, urging communities to take a stand against these cruel behaviours before more innocent lives are lost.

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Source: Noah Wire Services