Disturbing footage has been passed to us of a live gull twisted up in bird netting at Morrisons superstore in Dunoon, Scotland. What’s even more disturbing is that, despite local residents repeatedly raising the alarm, the bird was left hanging like that for over 24 hours because of Morrisons’ failure to act.
A local resident first notified Morrisons store on Friday 28 August that a live gull had become caught in the netting on their roof and was unable to escape. The following day, the bird was still there, clinging to life.
Another desperate resident went into the store to again ask for help. After waiting for more than an hour without any staff taking action, local people eventually turned to the fire brigade.
Firefighters attended and managed to free the gull. Tragically, we understand that the gull was euthanised because of the extent of their injuries, including what appears to be a severely broken wing.
Other images reveal damaged, poorly maintained netting with visible holes, posing an unnecessary and ongoing risk to wildlife.
We released the footage – which was passed to us from the charity Animal Concern and the local resident involved in the rescue – on social media last week. Since then, over 1000 of you sent emails to Morrisons Dunoon store manager and customer services demanding that the dangerous netting is removed and replaced with humane alternatives, and that mandatory 24 hour checks of all wildlife deterrents are put in place.
Despite several follow up emails, we have received no response. This incident resulted in an animal suffering for more than 24 hours and ultimately losing their life. Morrisons’ silence in the face of this is unacceptable.
So we’ve copied in Morrisons CEO, Rami Baitiéh. We want the damaged netting removed, humane alternatives put in place, and assurances that this will not be allowed to happen again across any of Morrison’s 497 superstores.
Please take a minute to send your email, and feel free to add your own words.
No animal should have to suffer and die like this gull did because of bird netting.
Property owners are responsible for ensuring bird netting is properly installed, regularly inspected and maintained so that it does not pose a danger to wildlife. Where a live bird becomes trapped, action should be taken promptly to have the bird safely released. Allowing damaged or poorly maintained netting to continue trapping birds, or failing to act when a trapped bird is known to be suffering, may amount to a wildlife or animal welfare offence. Please help us hold Morrisons accountable.
Thank you to the compassionate residents who intervened, and Animal Concern for passing along the footage.