Brisbane, Australia –
“Peggy and Molly” were a couple made for the Internet.
Peggy is a stocky, muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for pouncing on humans during breeding seasonnot to make friends with dogs.
In the four years since their unlikely connection was posted online, the unlikely couple has attracted almost two million followers on Instagram and Facebook.
But in an emotional video posted online Tuesday, Peggy’s owners, Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen, announced that the animals had been separated.
“It breaks our hearts to make this announcement today,” Wells said. “We had to hand Molly over to DES (Department of Science and Innovation) because we had a small group of people constantly complaining to them.”
Fans online were quick to demand justice.
“This is a classic example of bureaucracy over common sense and humanity,” wrote one user on Instagram. “Our taxpayer-funded departments should be using their resources to help the community and save abused wildlife, not harm it!!” said the comment, which attracted more than 1,000 likes.
However, a spokesperson for the Department of Science and Innovation (DESI) said in a statement that the bird had been captured “illegally” from the wild and kept without “permission, license or authority.”
“Animals in rehabilitation should not be associated with domestic animals due to the potential for them to be subject to stress and the risks of behavioral imprinting and disease transmission,” the statement added. “Wild animals must stay wild.”
Leading bird expert and behavioral ecologist Darryl Jones of Griffith University said magpies are very intelligent and social birds. He told CNN there’s no question about what should happen next: “That animal now thinks it belongs in that family… It should go back to the people.”
An abandoned bird
Wells found Molly in a local park, apparently abandoned as a chick, according to a lengthy Facebook post.
“We were very worried because the park was an off-leash dog park in the afternoons and up to 30 dogs of all breeds were running around like crazy, we knew this little bird wouldn’t stand a chance. “So, we did what any animal lover would do and made the decision to bring him home and care for him,” the post read.
“Over the next few months we raised this magpie, taught it to feed, fly and take it outdoors as much as possible because our goal was to return it to the wild.”
But Molly didn’t leave and joined her dog Peggy.
During the pandemic, Wells posted images of the animals together on social media with motivational slogans: “The days I spend with you are my favorite days” and “You are my happy place.”
The animals attracted a large following online.
T-shirts were printed, calendars were sold, and then an agreement was signed with one of the country’s largest publishers.
The resulting book, “Peggy and Molly,” was marketed as “heartwarming photos and simple life lessons about what it means to be a true friend and how we can all learn to be kind, humble and happy.”
But not everyone was happy with the development.
Wildlife officials were concerned that others would follow their example of domesticating wild animals in hopes of making online profits.
It is unclear whether Wells and Mortensen made any money from related merchandise. But in 2022, about $66,000 was raised through a GoFundMe campaign to help them buy the property they had been renting. CNN reached out to the couple for comment but did not receive a response.
Online campaign
Wells and Mortensen are now mobilizing an online campaign to pressure authorities to return the bird, a protected species in Australia.
An online petition to reunite the animals has gathered around 70,000 signatures.
“We wonder why a wild magpie can’t decide for itself where it wants to live and who it wants to spend its time with,” the couple said in their online post.
In its statement, the DESI said there was no option to release the bird into the wild as it had become “highly habituated to human contact.”
She would be placed in a facility, according to the statement, which could mean a prolonged stay: magpies are known to live up to 30 years.
Griffith University’s Jones, who wrote a book about his own experience raising a magpie, said taking the chick home was “the worst thing that could happen.” [the couple] I could have done.”
He said feeding birds is not uncommon in Australia – “one in two people you know is feeding a magpie somewhere” – but there was a difference between allowing them to roam around your garden and bringing them into your home.
“It is not good to take animals from the wild and turn them into pets. “It’s not something that should be recommended and that’s why there are strict rules about that kind of thing,” Jones said.
But now that Molly has become a family pet, it would be best for DESI to give her back, he added.
“The authorities could say, on reflection, taking into account the welfare of the individual magpie, that we have decided that the best thing we can do for that magpie is to return it to the family,” he said.
Bernard Ashcroft, chief executive of Wildlife Rescue Australia, said the law prohibits people from keeping wild animals as pets, for good reason.
“It is not appropriate for people to keep a magpie simply because they are attracted to it. If they don’t know what they are doing they can cause a little bit of damage,” she stated.
“Different birds have different nutritional needs.”
The department issued another statement Thursday acknowledging that Molly’s surrender was an “emotional matter.”
“Our number one priority is the continued well-being of the magpie, and the bird is safe, undergoing rehabilitation and has full access to veterinary care,” the statement said.
The department said it was investigating options for Molly’s future living conditions within the confines of the law.