It was an early morning walk on the beach in Malibu, like I take almost every day with my dog. Up ahead I spotted a seagull curiously sitting and not flying away as my dog Silly and I approached. I knew something was wrong. I placed my dog away from the bird and approached to find a beautiful, young seagull with a fishing lure pierced through its right leg, and if that wasn’t bad enough, one of the hooks was pierced through the webbing of its left foot as well. It was doomed.
Yes, I save dogs, but I advocate on behalf of all animals, especially those harmed by and ignorant ass who was too f*cking selfish to clean up his own mess. I guess spending several hours fishing for a 3 pound fish is more financially beneficial than working for $8.00 an hour and spending $10 at Ralphs. Oh, I forgot its a “sport.” Well, a sport is an activity in which both parties are willing participants, therefor I can’t really see fishing or hunting as a sport. Sorry, wearing camouflage does not classify you as an athlete.
I am pissed at this, its downright stupid. I’ve never attacked hunters in the past, as I feel “it is what it is,” but this sight put something into deep perspective. Its like leaving a loaded gun in a playground. But perhaps we should care more if a child got hurt, of if a child got caught up in fishing line or lures and died. We are sentient beings, but care only about ourselves… How sentient is that?
Anyway, I was able to handle the seagull and met a really nice guy who lives close to where I found the bird. We were able to get the bird into a box and he took it to the California Wildlife Center here in Malibu. I can only hope it wasn’t too late. The bird was in shock, and from the look of the pics you can see that the foot has already started developing an infection.
So my message to anyone who is going to fish the beaches as a sport is simple, clean up your f*cking mess. I’ve seen several dead birds wrapped up in fishing line and hooks, this time I hope I was there in time. And, if I see you fishing the beach, I’ll make it a point to tell you the pain that having your necked wrapped in a thin mono-filament can be; how a slow-painful suffocation while the line is cutting into your skin feels like. How painful it must be to have a speared fishing hook jammed through your skin or your tongue and pulling it out the same way must feel like.
Am I pissed??? F*ck yes, whoever did this f*cked up a really nice day I was getting ready to have. Now that I got this off of my chest, I do feel much better though.
Thank you.