The story of the male magpie, Molly, tells us that in Australia the answer to the question is a resounding NO because the wildlife authorities didn’t like the Queensland family rescuing and then adopting Molly who formed a close relationship with the family dog as they did not have a license and were not trained in wild animal husbandry. As a consequence, the bird was seized; removed from his home where he was clearly very content. I wonder how Molly feels now, banged up in some ‘sanctuary’ somewhere? Miserable, I guess.
The video tells the story. More after the video.
Molly became a social media (and news media) star on Instagram because of the beautiful relationship between him and the family’s Staffie, Peggy. They are really close friends. How does Peggy feel by the way now that Molly has gone?
Wasn’t this a cruel act by the wildlife officers? They appear to have made two animals miserable over some bureaucratic rule. Well, the rule has value but common sense needs to apply which is what Steven Miles, the Queensland Premier said. He said that “I would say that the environmental department stands ready to train Molly’s parents to be wildlife carers to get them the right certification so Molly can be reunited with his family”.
Well said I’d say and put very delicately to avoid upsetting wildlife services. Common sense applies.
There are times when you have to bend the rules a bit. Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen did a great job in rescuing Molly and then looking after him, making his life enjoyable. What did they do wrong to justify the bird being seized and removed from their happy home?
Nada. Come on guys. Let’s have some common sense and make Molly and Peggy happy again.
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It would seem that there is a balancing act between the conservation of wildlife and ensuring that species are protected and allowing a wild animal to become domesticated if they choose and allowing exceptional circumstances to occur if the subsequent relationship, facilities and general environment is good from the point of view of animal (both wild and domestic) welfare.
Desired outcome
The story clearly points to an exceptional outcome namely that the successful arrangement where Molly and Peggy are happy together should continue with some support from the authorities.
