Imagine this: you’re walking across Dam Square while the grey masses of pigeons casually trip around you, as usual. Then, you spot an extraordinarily well-dressed pigeon in the crowd — wearing a pink party hat.
Are we kidding? Nope. Do we wish we were? Absolutely.
Last Friday, the pigeon rescuers from the Stadsduiven Hulp Foundation had to do a double take when they saw that someone had glued a plastic hat onto the head of one of Amsterdam’s pigeons.
Over the weekend, the animal rights group was busy writing up a storm on social media to inform people about the dangers posed to the bedazzled bird.
Animal cruelty passing for a joke
The rescuers from the Stadsduiven Hulp Foundation found the pigeon after someone had shared a supposedly funny picture of it on Instagram, writes RTL Nieuws.
It was clear that whoever glued the party hat to the pigeon thought it would be funny, but the rescuers report that such “jokes” can cause serious harm, or death, to the city’s birds.
The Stadsduiven Hulp Foundation wrote on their Facebook page that “a trickle of glue had run down her head. It narrowly missed her eye, which could’ve meant blindness, and the drawn-out, cruel death that awaits a blinded feral pigeon.”
Moreover, the fumes from the glue could seriously damage the sensitive lungs of a pigeon.
Animal rights groups are concerned
While this rescued pigeon will likely be up and cooing in no time, the foundation suspects that it’s not the only one that’s been harmed.
“We saw another pigeon on site with the remains of glue stuck to their head. The hat seemed to have fallen off, pulling the feathers out with them.”
Not only is the foundation worried about the potential number of hurt pigeons, but they are also disheartened by people’s reactions to the original Instagram post.
“Stand up and speak up for them as you would wish to be spoken up for yourself. When you see an animal who has been harmed or taken advantage of, help them. Animal abuse is never funny,” they plea.
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