Seagull put down after being kicked by man in Barrow

A witness to the incident on Thursday night described hearing a large commotion near Park Drive and alleged to have seen a man kicking a seagull and setting his dog on the baby bird.

The resident said the reasoning the attacker gave for his actions was that "it was going to die anyway".

A spokeswoman for Cumbria Constabulary said: "Police were called at around 9.30pm to the report of an incident on Park Drive, Barrow involving a man and his dog.

"The man is reported to have kicked a seagull.

"The dog is also reported to have attacked the seagull."

Bardsea Bird Sanctuary were credited with a swift recovery of the bird that has since been put down by an emergency vet due to the injuries it suffered.

INJURED: Baby gull

Elisabeth Ashleigh, of Bardsea Bird Sanctuary suggested more education and better enforcement of crimes against birds could be a way of deterring people attacking animals.

"It is horrible what is going on at the moment, but it is happening every day," she said. "We get so many of these incidents reported to us.

"We have seen reported of people throwing birds into the road, so they get run over by cars. It is really sickening.

"It is not just yobs and youths; it is adults as well.

"So many we get called out to have obviously been attacked by humans as they have been kicked in the head.

"It has been an issue for years, but it does seem to be increasing recently.

"We do have high rates of cruelty towards gulls in Barrow, they just seem to have something against them.

"In the years gone by it used to be fashionable to go and feed the birds or the pigeons and we learned to respect the birds, look after them, and nowadays things seem to have changed."

INJURED: Baby gull

Anyone with information relating to this incident can report online at www.cumbria.police.uk/reportit , quoting incident number 258 of July 22 or phone on 101. Alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."