A couple from the Australian state of Queensland say they are heartbroken by the seizure of ‘their’ magpie Molly by the Parks and Wildlife Service. The two are said to have unlawfully kept the bird, which had been close friends with their Staffordshire bull terrier Peggy for more than three years.
LOOK. Unlikely animal duo Molly and Peggy brutally separated:
“We are devastated to share this news with you, but we have had to hand Molly over to the Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Environment and Science,” Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen from Brisbane wrote on the popular Instagram post on Tuesday. and Facebook accounts of the magpie and the terrier. “We wonder why a wild magpie can’t decide for itself where it wants to live and who it wants to spend its time with.”
The sad news did not leave Peggy and Molly’s followers untouched. Within no time, more than 25,000 of the almost two million followers had responded. Most demanded justice. “This is a classic example of bureaucracy over common sense and humanity,” one person wrote. “Our taxpayer-funded departments should use their resources to help the community and save abused wildlife instead of harming them!” read another comment, which received more than 1,000 likes.
“This is just nonsense, after all these years together it is cruel to separate them. No one can do that to a family! Let’s hope this situation gets rectified and has a happy ending!”, another follower commented. Another wondered aloud where the common sense of the bureaucrats who made the decision went. “Why are budgerigars, cockatoos, finches and other native birds allowed to be kept in cages and a magpie rescued as a baby not allowed to roam freely in your home, garden and the wild world.”
Fell out of nest
The Australian couple rescued magpie Molly in 2021 while walking their Staffordshire Bull Terrier Peggy in an off-leash area of a local park. Suddenly they saw a little bird that had fallen from a nest. “Reece knelt down to see if the magpie was okay but before we knew it it ran over his arm and sat on his shoulder,” Wells told ‘7NEWS’ at the time.
The couple decided to take the lightly feathered creature home. “Up to thirty dogs of all breeds run around in the park in the afternoon. We knew this little bird wouldn’t stand a chance. So we did what any animal lover would do and made the decision to take him home and care for him,” he said in a statement on Facebook.
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Once home, a striking, close friendship quickly developed between the curious female magpie Molly and the female terrier Peggy. The bird also gets along best with the couple’s other terrier, Ruby. But with Peggy we really get along great. Their owners thought it was so special and fun that they started posting videos of the two friends on Instagram. Encouraged by the enthusiastic responses, the bird and dog soon got their own accounts. They wanted to offer “a daily dose of happiness and fun”.
The special animal duo and their many followers did not go unnoticed. Media reported about the remarkable friendship, T-shirts of the two animals were printed and the well-known publisher Penguin even published a book about it in November last year entitled ‘Molly and Peggy’. The publisher describes the book as “a charming and uplifting gift book filled with beautiful photographs of two unlikely companions.”
Shadow side
However, the popularity of the magpie and terrier also had a dark side, Wells and Mortensen revealed on Tuesday. “There was a small group of people who constantly complained to the Parks and Wildlife Department,” they said in an Instagram video.
The couple also said that the agency in question had been working on the case about Molly since June last year. “Employees from the service showed up on our doorstep on June 13 and wanted us to hand Molly over. We declined because she was enjoying the trees around our property and was completely accepted by Peggy. After a long discussion, the officials left and we thought everything was fine,” Wells sighed.
The ‘grieving’ couple say they are now doing everything they can to comply with nature regulations, which stipulate that native animals may only be kept by recognized nature managers. “We try to cooperate with the service in question, including training and obtaining a nature permit.” Mortensen and Wells are urging their followers to email them or a local MP about the issue.
The Parks and Wildlife Service said in a lengthy statement that Molly “is very accustomed to human contact and will not be able to be released back into the wild.” That is why a search is underway for “a suitable facility” for the female magpie. “There are allegations that the bird was taken from the wild and unlawfully kept without a permit or authorization issued by the department. All native animals in Queensland are protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1992.”
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Tags: friendship dog Peggy magpie Molly rudely disrupted seizure devastated Animals
