Moral dilema 2

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Steve
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Came home from work on Friday to see a starling in the garden - it did not fly away when I approached it. A close inspection of it showed no apparent injuries. Thought it was just stunned and would fly away when it was ready. So sheltered it as best as I could from the sun and kept an eye on it in case of the local cat population.

However, it was soon apparent it was not just stunned - it kept falling over and struggled to get up, it's head started to droop - in short it was dying.

No point calling a vet so it would have been up to me to put it out of it's misery - but how? Drop a brick on it's head? Snap it's neck? Not proud to say that I chickened out - just didn't know what to do. Is there anything anyone else would have done?
 
I would have called RSPB and let them make the call on it, they are the experts on this and have people all over who could have come to you to bring things to the best resolution (whatever that might have been).

Never a fun situation though, I don't like to think of anything/anyone suffering.
 
mark1616 said:
I would have called RSPB and let them make the call on it, they are the experts on this and have people all over who could have come to you to bring things to the best resolution (whatever that might have been).

Never a fun situation though, I don't like to think of anything/anyone suffering.
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FWIW the RSPB do not deal with injured etc. birds. The RSPCA would be the one to call :)
 
Horrible situation isnt it. Ruddy cat bought in 2 nestlings a while ago, hardly marked and alive. I knew they were doomed from the moment she had taken them from the nest, (I didnt know where it was) but I put them in a makeshift "nest" near where the blackbirds patrol in the hope. Dead next morning.
 
Any vets will treat wildlife for free, just take it in.

...or a call to your local animal rescue can be good for advice.


Heather
 
Tigger.ufo said:
Any vets will treat wildlife for free, just take it in.

...or a call to your local animal rescue can be good for advice.


Heather
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Not our vet - when we took Miss Zoom's hamsters in for a check up there was a notice saying that all forms of wild-life were not accepted for treatment.

RSPCA or local rescue centre it is next time
 
When I did work experience at a vets someone told me they had to treat any wild animals or strays. Not sure what the law is exactly but I'll have a look
 
Not a nice situation at all :(

I've only found myself in that position once before and did what I thought was right by putting it out of its misery.

- A disemboweled mouse that our neighbour's cat (I assume) left on the patio for us. No doubt at all that it was dying. It was still breathing but its intestines were just hanging out in a mangled mess. I opted for fast decapitation with a sharp lawn edging tool (sorry to anyone eating) but it seemed kinder than watching it suffer.

In a situation like yours though, contacting a vet or animal shelter just for advice on what to do would seem the best call.
 
If it's doomed, just kill it.

Twice in the last year or so, I've come across injured deer of a road I've had to kill. Not a pleasant job and I won't go into how I did it as half you lot wouldn't sleep for a week if I did. Suffice to say I did what was right in the circumstances. Not easy, enjoyable or particularly satisfying but the suffering ended.
 
BRASH said:
If it's doomed, just kill it.

Twice in the last year or so, I've come across injured deer of a road I've had to kill. Not a pleasant job and I won't go into how I did it as half you lot wouldn't sleep for a week if I did. Suffice to say I did what was right in the circumstances. Not easy, enjoyable or particularly satisfying but the suffering ended.
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Probably bored it to death!!
 
my husband put a badly injured pigeon out of its misery once - but I couldn't bring myself to do it. My daughter recently rescued 4 baby blackbirds (blackbirds have a habit of leaving the nest before they can fly) from her cat and took them to a local rescue centre in Alton. They will release them in a few days. Most places will have a vet/rescue centre who will euthanise (sp?) a sick animal, but if you have the strength to do it, then probably quicker and easier to do it yourself.

Only sick/dying humans are left to suffer! (yeah ok, that's a different topic for a different day)
 
BRASH said:
Twice in the last year or so, I've come across injured deer of a road I've had to kill. Not a pleasant job and I won't go into how I did it as half you lot wouldn't sleep for a week if I did. Suffice to say I did what was right in the circumstances. Not easy, enjoyable or particularly satisfying but the suffering ended.
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Did you punch your way into its chest and tear its still beating heart out with a gutteral roar?

Anyhoo, RSPCA are useless, we had a swan sitting in the middle of our street the other week and RSPCA refused to come out, ended up the police having to guard it for over an hour until someone else came for it.
 
For the record,birds,especially young, have weak skulls at the rear,press your thumb into it and they die instantly.

That is how owls always eat the brains out of young birds.
 
Should of ended it. Its only a starling. Anything more significant then save it.
 
FWIW starlings
Are actually a protected species ;)
They were taken off the general licence a couple of years ago,
due to their massive (!) decline.
In effect, that means you do need a exemption permit, from Natural England to cull them.
 
Before I left school had a part time job working on a pig farm on more than one occasion seen the head pigman kill deformed piglets with a foot to the neck and a blow from a sledge hammer, and no I dont mean a crushing blow but rather a perpendicular swing. I know it seems particularly cruel but there seemed to be no pain or suffering. This was in the early seventies so probably be convicted for animal cruelty now but certainly seemed the right thing to do at the time.

Steve
 
Cobra said:
FWIW starlings
Are actually a protected species ;)
They were taken off the general licence a couple of years ago,
due to their massive (!) decline.
In effect, that means you do need a exemption permit, from Natural England to cull them.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that. My garden was full of them yesterday. Grass had been cut and it was wet so I assume lots of worms.
 
it's true - starlings are quite rare now, we have a pair using our garden. I remember when I was a child we would walk through Newcastle city centre around 6pm and the buildings would be covered in roosting starlings. what a sight (and noise) :)
 
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