A community have been left devastated after a peacock that became a 'neighbourhood mascot' was shot dead after an anonymous advert for a 'hit' was placed online.
The peacock, known as Mr P, had been 'adopted' by Melissa and Mike Glass about six years ago when it appeared on their property one day.
Since then, it had never left and would roost in the trees nearby, and soon it became a favourite with neighbours who were delighted by the bird's bright plumage.
But recently an anonymous advert was placed online asking for someone to remove the bird from McKinleyville, California, 'by any means necessary', and then days later it was found dead after seemingly being shot by a small calibre weapon.
The original post read: "The job is simple... get rid of a wild peacock that is disrupting our lives. Locating the bird is easy as it roosts in the trees nearby house every evening around 8-8.30pm.
"There are no fences so access is easy, but please not that I do not own any of this property.
"This bird came here about four months ago, no one knows from where, and no one here owns it. If you've ever heard a peacock's call, you know it's as loud as car horn.
"This bird wakes me up every morning about 5-5.30am and continues calling for about three hours. I put in ear plugs and put a pillow over my head. Sometimes this works, sometimes not. This has been going on for almost four months, crazy!
"Please contact me so we can form a strategy to eliminate this bird, and also to agree on how much you will be compensated."
The advert, posted on Craigslist, also came with a satellite image of the property with three points of interested marked, one showing where the bird lives, and another two locations of where the bird might be.
Local residents thought nothing of the post at the time, but then remembered it after the bird was found dead in a tree on Wednesday, June 30, with a bullet wound to its lower breast.
Speaking to local news outlet the Lost Coast Outpost, Melissa Glass said: "It’s really sad, it looks like he was up there for a while.
"It’s a really sticky situation, because when [Mike] talked to Fish and Game they asked, ‘was it your pet? Do you have a cage for it?"
Mike said that he had spoken to the local police chief but was told that there was "really nothing we can do" if the bird wasn't caged.
But he and other neighbours have pursued the matter, and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has gotten involved.
A spokesperson said: "We have a deputy looking into it and will be doing some follow up today. Depending on the facts of the situation, if the peacock was found to indeed be shot, whoever is responsible could face charges of discharge of a firearm near a residence and even animal cruelty if the peacock was shot out of malice.”
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