The community is alarmed by the sight of a young injured seagull trapped on the rooftop of a Steveston retail space.
“Its left leg in particular has seriously had the circulation cut off,” said Barbara Billas, who first noticed the distressed bird on the rooftop of the Onni retail space along Bayview Street two weeks ago, on Aug. 11.
Seagulls often raise their young on the rooftop, according to Billas, and this year there were two babies.
“I noticed one of them had something wrapped around its ankles,” said Billas.
Fast forward two weeks, the seagull’s legs are still bound by what appears to be twine, and it has grown double in size.
“The bigger it gets, the tighter (the fishing line) gets. And of course, also when it tries to move its legs independently, all it’s really doing is tugging the twine tighter,” Billas explained.
She told the Richmond News that she was able to speak to the building manager, who agreed to let a roofing company rescue the bird as long as there was a contract with safety measures in place.
Billas managed to find a roofing company, and it would come at no cost to Onni.
“I’ll pay for the whole shebang. I don’t care what it costs, I just want to help this bird,” she said.
However, the rescue mission is currently at a standstill as the roofing company waits for Onni’s response to arrange for access.
Billas has also been documenting the saga on a community Facebook page. However, although concerned community members have offered to help, there are limited options available.
“We can’t trespass on (Onni’s) property,” said Billas.
If community members are unable to get on the building, they might have to wait for the seagull to fledge and look for it on the ground.
“But that’s a gamble. And I think what’s going to happen if the bird ends up on the ground is it’s going to get tangled up in something and be there and starve to death,” said Billas.
“It’s just breaking my heart to watch this because it seems like it should be so simple to get over there, get on the roof… and just grab the bird and take it out to wildlife rescue who is actually waiting for it.”
The News has reached out to Onni for comment.
