A woman who rescues hundreds of pigeons and seagulls before nursing them back to health in her terraced house has accused neighbors of working with the council to “shut out” her.
Elizabeth Mooney has rehabilitated and released more than 1,000 birds from her modest home in Liverpool over the past six years.
But after her neighbor accused the birds of attracting vermin and causing noise, Liverpool City Council (LCC) imposed a prevention order on her.
Mooney has accused the city of working with residents to attack her and strip her of her “civil liberties.”
The 40-year-old carer, who keeps up to 20 birds in the garden of her West Derby home, told MailOnline: ‘It seems like everyone is against me.’ I just feel like selling it and leaving.
‘I have never caused any problems, they have brought it to me, reporting it. Every time I go out to rescue a bird my neighbor photographs me. She (Marie Tulley) sends him to the council.
‘It is not illegal to keep wild birds if they have been examined, treated and cleared by a veterinarian. I feel marginalized. I felt like I couldn’t go out and walk down the street.’
But the neighbors are not very understanding and say that their endless birds are making their lives hell.
One of them said: ‘Summer is a complete nightmare and you can forget about barbecues and things like that.
‘The birds will just take the food out of your hand. If you sit there with a drink, they start defecating on you.
Elizabeth Mooney has rehabilitated and legally released more than 1,000 seagulls and pigeons from her terraced house.
The 40-year-old carer keeps up to 20 birds in the garden of her West Derby home.
The council has accused its aviaries of attracting vermin due to bird droppings and food scraps left on the ground.
Mooney claims his war with neighbors began about three years ago, when another resident began taking pictures of him every time he left the house to rescue the fledglings.
But events came to a head in October this year, when LCC began investigating Elizabeth and her operation.
In a series of in-person and written warnings, they accused their aviaries of attracting vermin due to bird droppings and food scraps left on the ground, adding that nird’s homemade rehabilitation was negatively impacting their street.
She then claims LCC wrote to neighbours, encouraging them to report her to the RSPCA if they had concerns.
Mooney also received a Public Protection Order, which restricts certain activities in a public space to improve the quality of life of residents, charging her with putting the public at risk.
They gave him a long list of do’s and don’ts.
Mooney must not post on his ‘Liverpool, Merseyside Bird Rehabilitation & Advice’ Facebook page, which has 11,500 members, advertising his services and allowing Scousers to flag birds in need of rescue.
He has also been banned from rescuing any more birds in the Liverpool area, must stop feeding seeds to wild birds, release all seagulls and pigeons in his possession and clean their aviaries of droppings. He says he has carried out most of the orders he was given but he still has ten seagulls in his house.
But he added: ‘Surely that goes against civil liberties?
Elizabeth says she has never seen rats or mice in the aviary
Seagull activists have criticized Liverpool City Council’s behavior as ‘bullying’
‘They have put it there that I cannot go out to pick up a bird that is injured. You should be free to go out, he said. I can’t even post to (Facebook) groups anymore.
‘I’ve called the RSPCA, they’ve been here before. They said “we will only come if you want us to support you.”
‘I have a quick in and a quick out. No vet here will really treat because they don’t have the money or facilities to help all the wild birds. It’s just to try to save them from euthanasia here.
‘I can’t walk past an injured animal on the street and not pick it up. You couldn’t tell me I can’t do that.
‘I thought he was trying to create hatred towards what he was doing, trying to gain more support for him than for me. You shouldn’t write to people who don’t even know.
‘That morning (after receiving the letter) I usually talk to the neighbors but they had their heads down and weren’t looking at me. There were two others who turned their backs on me.
With vet bills reaching £1,000 and the council requiring it to carry out a £350 survey of its aviaries, Mooney says it could be forced to close.
He added: “I’ve been at this for six years.
‘People trust me to pick them up. If I can’t do that, they will be left on the streets to die.”
However, neighbors have claimed that they are miserable because their pigeons are bombarding their backyards, stealing their food and invading their homes.
Charles Wilkinson, 83, who lives next door to Mooney bird sanctuary, told the Mail he had endured years of misery.
Wilkinson, who once coached Robbie Fowler and Ross Barkley in the youth football league, said he was now at his wits’ end.
The retiree, whose home is a Liverpool FC shrine, said: “I have suffered in recent years. “It has seagulls, pigeons and ducks too.
Elizabeth has always rescued animals and took in stray dogs as a child.
It has received support from the seagull rescue community who say the council has gone too far.
Justin King, founder of the South Coast and East Sussex Bird and Gull Advice and Resource Forum in Brighton, said Elizabeth is the latest in a long line of seagull heroes to be harassed.
And the smell and noise last all night.
“Some of these birds are large and aggressive.”
Wilkinson, who lost his wife two years ago, said the birds would try to invade his home.
He said: ‘If you leave a window open they will try to get in. I think she lets them fly in and out of her house.
“I’m too old for this now, but if I were in my prime I’d be fixing this.”
“We are all sick to the birds’ teeth.”
A young mother who lives a few doors down, who asked not to be identified, said: “It’s been hell to be honest.”
‘The back gardens are now infested with rats. I can’t let my little one play in the garden anymore.
And the stench of summer is simply awful.
Another neighbor said: ‘There are people who come to your house delivering birds and food all day long.
‘What’s going on in that house? Surely it is time for the authorities to do something. I just feel like something very strange is happening.’
Liverpool City Council did not respond to comment.
The RSPCA has been contacted for comment.