CAGING WILD BIRDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21803, 18 May 1934, Page 7

CAGING WILD BIRDS

V OFFENCE AGAINST LAW WARNINGS TO BOYS It is an offence against the law trt •:' capture and hold a native bird in cap-!' tivity in. a cage, according to the in-!, terpretation of the Act by members ofi; the Canterbury Society for the Preven-! tion of Cruelty to Animals. Members nb. a meeting the other night also had I something to say about alleged cruel-' ties inflicted on wild animals by keep-j ing them in. zoos. The discussion aroso out of the in-j spector'u report, in which he' stated] that he had frequently warned bo,\ Sj against thei practice of holding wild;* birds in a cage. The Act said that tor-)■ rifying a bird or causing it any unncces-i sary suffering was an offence. Where!, birds were born in captivity it was a! different matter. Sirs. A. L. Millington: In England ii>f is an offence to keep wild birds. At: local schoolmaster has asked thr.wsomething he done to stop this prac- 1 tice. It is an appalling thing that wildj birds should be placed in captivity. > Birds were given wings to fly with, aiul, they should not be captured. At one ! school hoys dare not throw v stones at a greenfinch, so we are doing some good.. Mr. A. P.. Bridge: What about zoos?; In the Auckland Zoo a tiger has clawed the concrete wall nearly to the top iit its efforts to get out. The tiger caai only walk up and down, up and down*- : and that constitutes cruelty. The chairman, Mr. C. G-. McKellar,--said that every boy at some stage tried " to trap birds with lime or by otber} means. If boys were told that it was;! illegal to cage the birds the practice" would diminish.