A magpie that gained a big following on Instagram after befriending an English staffy has been seized by authorities in Queensland.
Molly the magpie was taken in by Gold Coast photographer Juliette Wells, who got here throughout the infant chick whereas out for a stroll throughout lockdown in September, 2020.
The fledgling had fallen out of its nest and Wells mentioned she and her husband, Reece, determined to take it in to rescue it from sure loss of life.
As soon as residence, Molly shaped a robust bond with one in every of their pet English staffies, Peggy, and Wells started snapping cute images of the pair to share on social media.
“It went viral, not deliberately, however folks did discover it very, very blissful and really enjoyable and obtained loads of pleasure out of it,” Recce mentioned in a video posted yesterday on Fb.
The next on Peggy and Molly’s social media pages grew to 2 million as folks around the globe watched the unlikely friendship bloom.
However that each one got here to an finish earlier this month when the couple mentioned they had been left with no selection however to voluntarily give up Molly to the Division of Setting, Science and Innovation (DESI).
“It breaks our coronary heart to make this announcement at present,” Wells mentioned within the Fb video.
“We needed to give up Molly to the Division of Science and Innovation as we had a small group of individuals continuously complaining to them.”
Wells mentioned the division had first made contact with the couple final June. asking for them to give up Molly, nonetheless that they had refused.
“We refused as he was thriving within the bushes surrounding the property,” Wells mentioned, including he had been accepted into a gaggle of younger male magpies within the space.
“After lengthy discussions they left and we thought every thing was okay,” Wells mentioned.
Nevertheless, in January, the division contacted the couple once more.
“After many discussions and exhausting all avenues to protect a secure, protected setting for Molly over the previous few months, I needed to make the hardest choice of my life and I handed a wild chicken to be in captivity,” Wells mentioned.
“There was a priority from DESI that we did this to make cash from a wild chicken.
“This was not my intention in any respect. I am a photographer and an artist. One who took extraordinarily cute images of animals collectively utilising my skills to make folks blissful.”
A spokesperson for DESI informed the ABC that, below Queensland legislation, a sick or injured native animal should go into the care of an individual with a sound rehabilitation allow.
“Animals in rehabilitation should not affiliate with home animals because of the potential for them to be subjected to emphasize and the dangers of behavioural imprinting and transmission of illnesses,” the DESI spokesperson mentioned.
Recce mentioned he had tried to use for a allow, nonetheless he needed to retract the appliance due to a battle of curiosity with the couple’s social media pages.
9News.com.au has contacted the division for remark.