Bird Netting Causes Yet More Suffering in Uckfield |

WRAS working with the Fire Service to Rescue the Pigeon

An animal charity is urging people to complain to Uckfield Town Council, Uckfield Chamber of Commerce, Wealden District Council and local MP Nus Ghani to apply pressure to building owners in Uckfield High Street to remove unsightly bird netting, which is unhygienic, not fit for purposes, and causing considerable suffering to wildlife.

East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) have been called out yet again to Uckfield High Street to rescue yet another bird caught in netting above shops.

Every year East Sussex WRAS gets called out to between 30-60 birds caught in bird netting erected over building in East Sussex.

Sunday saw East Sussex WRAS work with the Fire Service to deal with two incidents of entangled pigeons caught above shops in Uckfield High Street.

"We are not against bird netting and bird proofing, but it is not suitable for all situations, and if not erected correctly, not maintained or the correct gauge of netting used it just becomes a death trap, hazard, and can use a worse hygiene problem than if the netting was not erected in the first place" said WRAS founder Trevor Weeks MBE.

"It is not just pigeons and gulls which become caught up but other birds like doves, owls, sparrowhawks, kingfishers and other wildlife which have become entangled previously" added Trevor.

"We are getting sick and tired of being called out and building owners taking no responsibility for the mess they are causing. Councils should be taking a lead here and contacting building owners where bird netting is not maintained. If the Fire Service has to be called out to help rescue a trapped wild bird then the owner should be charged for the call-out" said Trevor.

WRAS saves the Tax Payer thousands of pounds by attending birds caught in netting every year, where their own ladders are used to get to trapped birds, preventing the need for the Fire Service to be called out.

WRAS is asking people to complain to Uckfield Town Council, Uckfield Chamber of Commerse, and Wealden District Council and local MP to demand than action is take to remove the netting in Uckfield High Street. "It is nothing but an unhygienic eyesore and wildlife hazard and yet another short term quick fix solution to, without anyone taking full responsibility for their actions" said Trevor Weeks.

Uckfield Town Council: admin@uckfieldtc.gov.uk

Uckfield Chamber of Commerse: beblackaller@iblackaller.freeserve.co.uk

Wealden District Council Environmental Health: richard.parker-harding@rother.gov.uk

Wealden MP Nus Ghani : nusrat.ghani.mp@parliament.uk

The RSPCA Website asks people to report incidents of dead birds caught in netting to them saying:

If you have seen dead birds in netting, or where you are aware of a regular issue of birds becoming trapped in netting, we would be grateful if you could please forward the following information to: wildlife@rspca.org.uk

*Address where the netting is located (include postcode where possible).

*The owner of the property or company (if known) and the address if different to above.

*The date of incident.

We will then write to the owner of the property to ask them to inspect their netting more frequently and to improve their maintenance schedule to prevent the problem reoccurring.