Supermarket slammed for leaving pigeon stuck in netting

A bird rescue sanctuary has condemned a supermarket for allowing a Feral Rock Dove to ‘unnecessarily suffer’ in their roof netting.

Bardsea Bird Sanctuary has publicly criticised Asda in Barrow, Cumbria, for reportedly allowing a bird to remain stuck in its roof net for five days. Elisabeth Ashleigh, from the sanctuary, said the ordeal would have been ‘very distressing’ for the trapped bird.

The Feral Rock Dove was trapped in netting for five days (Martin Webb).

She commented: “We had several members of staff get in touch with us about the trapped bird who had been there since Monday. The fact that it has now been trapped there for five days will be very distressing for the pigeon and is frankly against the law. We informed the RSPCA about the matter and they were very concerned.”

Miss Ashleigh said the response from Asda had been ‘very slow’ in dealing with the issue. “It’s been very poor effort from them,” she said. “This is an animal welfare issue which needs urgently responded to. There doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency surrounding it.”

In order to prevent such events happening, Ms Ashleigh said Asda needed to ‘properly maintain’ their netting. Bardsea Bird Sanctuary spoke out against the supermarket on social media: “This is a wildlife welfare issue.

“It’s illegal for them to leave the birds trapped and it’s illegal to cull them unless specific criteria have been met. If the netting was properly fitted the birds wouldn’t be able to get behind it to become trapped. They are therefore acting illegally.

An ASDA spokesman said: “We take animal welfare very seriously and we are currently ensuring we can move the birds on as safely as possible. We have spoken to the RSPCA who confirmed they are happy with the plans we have in place.”