Woman who nurses injured seagulls says she won't stop…

Woman who nurses injured seagulls says she won't stop despite warning

A woman says she won't stop saving seagulls, despite a complaint and council warning. April Lock claims to have saved close to 100 baby birds, a number including dozens of seagulls, after becoming aware of the number killed in her community each year.

April began nursing injured gulls back to health in around 2018, after seeing a large volume of squashed on the roads. She has since had to build multiple large pens in her garden for the birds to rest in. Once she has revived them, she releases them back into the wild.

Speaking to North Wales Live, April said: "When I noticed how many seagull chicks were abandoned and being squashed on the road, I spoke to different sanctuaries and vets but it didn't seem like anyone could help them. So I took things into my own hands and decided to rescue them.

"I don't think a lot of people realise that if you give the birds to the RSPCA or the vets, then they're usually euthanised, even if they're completely healthy", she claimed. "I know some people don't like animals but I'm just trying to do something good for the animals and the locals as well."

While a large portion of the local community are supportive of her efforts, April has now received a letter informing her of a complaint. A letter sent by Gwynedd Council earlier this month warned her of the dangers of feeding wild birds.

Sharing a picture on social media, April said: "Sometimes you can't do right from wrong. All I have done is tried to help these animals and someone has complained to the council about me, ridiculous. #iwontstophelpingthem"

A letter April Lock received from Gwynedd Council (April Lock)

Seagull chicks rescued by April Lock (April Lock)

A spokesperson for Gwynedd Council said whilst they don’t have an official policy, residents feeding seagulls regularly on their properties may be subject to a letter or a visit from Public Protection Officers who will advise on why it is important not to feed seagulls. They said: “Availability of food sources is the reasons why so many seagulls now populate our coastal towns and villages.

"Gwynedd Council regularly campaigns to raise awareness of the problem – and to stress the importance of ensuring that people do not feed the seagulls." Despite the council warning, April said she is determined to continue her work to prevent the unnecessary deaths of seagull chicks.

She said: "The letter from the council is the first complaint that I've had but I'm not hurting anyone and I've had loads of positive feedback from people locally. Some of the birds come to me when they're tiny, just a ball of fluff in the palm of my hand.

"Some of them I hand fed with the syringe and got up every two to three hours during the night to feed them. So now it's so rewarding when you see them flying away because I know without my helping hand that they probably wouldn't have made it."