A woman has been fined £150 by local authorities for feeding a vegan sausage roll to a pigeon…
Kerris is upset about the councils decision to fine her.
Kerris Fenn, from Cardiff, Wales, was visiting her brother in Manchester when she found herself walking around in Picadilly Gardens. She then grabbed some lunch from Greggs and returned to the park to sit down and have some dinner – when some “friendly birds” approached her.
The 22 year old then decided to break some of her Vegan sausage roll into pieces to feed them, and that she did. However, the pigeons dinner would be ruined after Kerris was quickly hit with a £150 fine for littering.
When talking to manchester evening news, Kerris said: “I was eating a Greggs Sausage Roll. It was less than a mouthful left, the pigeons had gathered around. I thought it was quite sweet. I just really like animals, I’m a vegan.
“I ripped it into tiny pieces. I tried feeding the crumbs to them. It was just a small group, not flocks and flocks.
“They charged me £120 ($157). It would have been more than £150 if I left it more than 10 days. It’s outrageous. It’s is crazy to treat me the same as someone who throws litter on the floor.”
She thought it was outrageous, which it sort of is, but she brought up how she just bit the bullet and paid now, before the fine increased, despite being able to take it to court.
Shes never returning to the gardens she said.
“I contacted the council and explained ‘this is crazy’. I said ‘if you told me I would have stopped’. I was shocked.
“It’s the most expensive lunch ever. I’m not going back, definitely not. I can’t believe it.
“I’m still angry about it. It’s upsetting how shocking it was, and how embarrassing it was – in front of so many people.”
The council, however, unsurprisingly has said the fine was justified, even if what she was doing had good intentions.
Executive Member for Neighbourhoods, Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar, said: “Feeding the pigeons is littering, plain and simple. Clear signs are in place in Piccadilly Gardens to advertise this fact.
“While we take no pleasure in handing out Fixed Penalty Notices to offenders, it’s extremely important that people understand that they should not be feeding the birds in this way.
“Illegally dropping food for the pigeons is bad for the local environment and can also be harmful to the birds, as many items intended for human consumption are not suitable for them to eat.”
