There is great anger about the cutting of the fence of the city aviary in Hoorn. This allowed ten birds and a squirrel to escape. “They were bred in captivity, so they are doomed,” says local resident Renata Gravendijk. There were also papers with messages, which leads to the suspicion that an activist is behind the deed.
Rernata was walking her dog past the aviary last Saturday when she saw the papers hanging. “One of the A4 sheets had a logo that I didn’t recognize (the sign for anarchy, ed.)And under that the word disgrace.”
Another man who was walking his dog also saw the forms. He took them off the fence and took them home. The fence of the city aviary was still intact at that time, and all the animals were still in their places.
Gravendijk decides to report this to the Hoorn police base team and contacts them via chat. That message seems not to have been read yet, says Gravendijk. Attempts are also being made to report this to the municipality, but here too Renate receives no response.
Bred animals
The person who hung the papers last Saturday probably struck again last night or this morning, Renata suspects. Because when she walked past the aviary again around ten o’clock this morning, she saw several volunteers from the foundation that manages the aviary standing together.
“Then I knew right away what time it was,” she says. “I spoke to the volunteers, and they said that about ten birds have flown away.” One of the two squirrels that were there has also fled. It was bred in captivity, so it cannot survive in the wild.
Cold potentially fatal to animals
“The person who cut the fence may have thought they were animal-friendly, but because they have never lived in the wild, the opposite is the case,” Gravendijk continues. “Now that it’s getting cold, that’s quite difficult. Those poor birds and squirrel are actually doomed. I can be very angry about that.”