Vegan Activist Group Offers $2,000 For Info On Injured Pelicans

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — Florida Voices for Animals, a vegan activist group and nonprofit organization, has offered a $2,000 reward in the search for the individuals who have been intentionally injuring brown pelicans at the Skyway Fishing Pier on the Manatee County side of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Since Jan. 9, 16 pelicans have been found scalped at the pier, according to a news release from FVA. The reward is offered to anyone with information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for harming the birds.

The rescue group Friends of the Pelicans, which takes care of pelicans around the pier, discovered the injured pelicans, and have taken photos of the intentional, severe injuries, ranging from scalping to clipped wings, FVA said.

"They have had literally very specific shapes carved into their forehead area, literally like a knife, a clean edge and no other wound around it," Kim Begay, vice chair of the Friends of the Pelicans, said, according to the news release. "It’s cruelty to animals. It’s inhumane, and it’s just completely unacceptable. It’s a crime.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating these reports of injured pelicans.

Anyone with information about these incidents can report tips by calling the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922 or emailing TIP@MyFWC.com. Information may also be submitted to Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 800-873-TIPS (8477) or to FVA at 727-656-8368 or fvaonline@yahoo.com.

Callers may remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward, FVA said.