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35 Seagulls deliberately run down by motorist

Pleasantville, NJ

July 27, 2006

The carnage of several Seagulls in front of stunned witnesses in a Pleasantville, Atlantic County shopping center parking lot, has police hunting for a suspect.

(Photo courtesy of Action News 6)

In or near shore towns, it is not unusual to see people feeding seagulls. Authorities believe that in this instance, someone used potato fries from a nearby fast food restaurant as bait for a seagull slaughter. 

Rich Frank of the SPCA stated that someone put down food in an area, drove to the far end of the parking lot, made a U-turn, came at a high rate of speed and ran down the Seagulls.

Several Rent-A-Center workers were loading furniture on a truck and witnessed the incident. They stated that they heard a loud car motor and saw a black Maxima with a few young people in it, flying towards the birds. They could hear the birds screaming. After the birds were hit, they saw them laying on the ground, flopping and suffering.

Animal Control Officers collected the 35 crushed, dead seagulls. Police invetigators are checking a surveillance video camera on a hotel across the street to see if it captured images of whoever killed the birds.

Often, the sometimes aggressive scavenging Seagulls are not seen as a friendly bird.  In this situation, Police state it is a criminal act. Their concern is that the individual who commited this crime took the time to do this and needs to be evaluated.

Whoever did this can be charged with 35 counts of cruelty to animals, each count coming with potential penalties of $250, 30 days in jail and community service.

Reference:

6abc Action News