An absolute bastard from Northumberland is being investigated by police, the RSPCA, and the RSPB, after images of him strangling a seagull appeared online.
James Arkle, 32, has a bit of a weird obsession with seagulls, regularly posting on his Facebook page about them apparently keeping him awake at night.
He’s now seemingly stepped up his animal cruelty game, posting images of him throttling a bird, with the caption: “Who’s the f****** BOSS tonight then little seagulls?”
People have been highly critical of pictures appearing to show him strangling the gull, but Arkle claims he didn’t harm the animal pictured. When asked whether he let the bird go after wringing its neck, he responded on Facebook saying: “Yes I did [let it go], on my mother’s and daughter’s life.”
Gulls are a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), and it’s illegal to intentionally injure or kill one.
An RSPCA spokesman said:
Gulls have a particularly tough time of it and every year we see incidents like this, particularly in coastal areas.
Deliberate cruelty is not only callous and unacceptable but it is also against the law.
We urge people to be tolerant of the wildlife living around them, and remember that gulls are protected under law.
Arkle could face jail if found guilty of animal cruelty.
