To think what this man did was kind ( trigger warning ⚠️)

[Scottishdreams1991]

This Morning I walked past seagulls attacking a pigeon:(
A man suddenly called out and picked the pigeon up. It was barely alive He then broke the pigeons neck on the wall. It was horrible and I can't believe he could do that but it was in pain and would have suffered a slow and painful death. His actions while horrible but kind ? Can't stop thinking about it

It was kind of the man to do that.

DP is vegetarian and would never willingly hurt a living creature, but he grew up around animals and the countryside so is pragmatic about things. We once came across a distressed, severely injured wild goose on a walk (possibly had been shot - it's a wildfowling area) and he killed it to prevent any further suffering.

I have done the same as I came across a pigeon being attacked by crows. I whacked it with a log as I couldn't bring myself to break it's neck. Couldn't have just left it there being pecked to death :(
I was heartbroken by it and me and my mum debated whether we could do it for a while before deciding that there was no way we could leave it like that.

A bird hit my window recently so I ran downstairs with a box in case it was in shock. I considered what I'd do if it was beyond help and decided that I wouldn't have it in me to break its neck. I think I'd have had to rush it to the vet down the road for them to deal with. In the end I couldn't find it so hopefully it was ok and flew off.

Years ago I knew someone who had ducks and a fox got to them even though they'd installed various predator-proofing. They were so badly injured he had to kill them all. It was awful.

We live rural, and my husband has had to do similar things. He is an animal/nature lover, and I always admire when people can put aside their own feelings to help a dying/injured animal. I get mad at myself knowing that I couldn't do it personally, despite knowing it's for the best.

There's no point putting a trigger warning without a brief description of the trigger.

I did think that. Do we really need a trigger warning on someone putting a pigeon out of its misery?!

The assisted dying bill is getting a lot of attention at the moment. The general consensus is that it's cruel to let people suffer if there's another choice. You'd put a pet down. Why not extend that kindness to wild animals?

Although, OP, I'd have been shocked and it would have bothered me to see it, too.

In that case it was the right thing to do, to give the bird a quick, relatively painless end to its suffering.

I remember seeing a sparrowhawk eating a pigeon alive, the poor thing was lying there ripped apart being eaten

Yup. Nature's brutal, Perfectly normal for animals to have pieces torn off them as they are slowly eaten whilst alive and conscious. I read an account of a wildlife photographer who witnessed a large bison type creature ( can't remember exact species) being eaten by a pride of lions. He said it took 20 minutes before the it stopped lowing. All the while being eaten alive by a pride of animals.

Its why I can't believe in God. Or praise his creation as 'wonderful'. Its bloody brutal. So much appalling pain written into the system. Its not an add on. Its how the system functions.

I would have done the same as the guy (probably, I wasnt there to gather all info obvs)
I once 'necked: a pigeon in a city center bus depot, that had been hit by something and was near death struggling, and would not have recovered from its injuries , the kindest thing to put it out of its misery. I was about 13/4 at the time but had grown up on a farm. The reaction of others was intense to say the least; I didn't make a song and dance of it . I did bag it and bin in though as not to cause further distress!
I rescued/removed a distressed pigeon from a busy shopping street a few weeks ago. Picked it up carefully gave it the once over and took it to a much less busy area , released it and watched it for a a few minutes , till it flew off
I did look pretty odd with a pigeon tucked under my arm, chatting away to it!

There have always been animals that eat carrion (dead animals) they haven't suddenly become depraved. You could say they do a service by keeping the roads clear of squashed animals. Dispatching the pigeon quickly and letting the seagulls continue with their dinner is fine.

@Scottishdreams1991 i was going to do that to a pigeon a few years ago but decided against due to the flack I would have got!! think busy city square, sunny day, people all over on the hundreds of benches!! well done to him. it is easy to wring their neck and put them out of their misery! hold it by the head and swing it round once is usually enough and i dont mean swing it over your head!

@CaptainMyCaptain I guess I'm a bit naive when it comes to wildlife, inner city kid that I am.
When I was young you only ever saw seagulls at the seaside, and they didn't try and steal your food with such intense vigour. I'm sure they used to be much smaller as well?
I guess the eating the corpse thing is just natural. I just didn't know they ate other birds! I guess our city pigeons regularly devour chicken bones from the bin. Which is probably less natural?

@BobbyBiscuits bit dramatic ... Who mentioned bashing it's head off a wall ? You've added that bit in your head!

He then broke the pigeons neck on the wall. It was horrible

I once did this to a pigeon after I unavoidabley hit it with my car, it had a big open wound, wouldn't have been able to survive. I was in the middle of nowhere and I knew I couldn't just leave it to die a slow horrible death. I agonised over it for a while and I still think about it several years later so I hope I'm not a psychopath 😭

He did the humane thing. And pigeons are a menace anyway. Flying vermin.

@LigamentBandy it's what OP said he did.

@BobbyBiscuits no it's not I included the ops words I cut and pasted them...... Where is the word "bashed"?

Seagulls used to follow fishing boats eating the debris (fish guts etc thrown overboard) there are fewer boats to follow now so they go for people's chips. In the past few decades they have also started colonising inland lakes and ponds and roosting in city buildings so they have to scavenge what they can get. It's nature which naturally evolves.

He did the right thing

I'm sure they used to be much smaller as well?

There are different species of gull with quite a wide variety of sizes.

So would my husband because he knows how to do it..

Calling out was probably an error. It would have been quicker and kinder to let the seagulls finish the job.

While it’s horrible he did put the pigeon out of pain and slow death.

That's life! Sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind.
He Maybe would have been kinder to you to be a bit more discreet about it.