Silent Killer: Help Us End Deadly Bird Netting

GUEST BLOG - Kevin Newell, Humane Wildlife Solutions

Protecting the wild is something I have always done, as a vegan teenager working at an animal rescue to now running the multi award winning wildlife business,Humane Wildlife Solutions. We are built on protecting wildlife and have helped shape laws and even been on government committees advising how laws and licensing should work to benefit wildlife. Over nearly 13 years we have handled over 8,000 wildlife cases and that number continues to grow.

We just launched our first ever campaign (July 2025) which is to try and end or heavily regulate bird netting.This indiscriminate, silent killer haunts our avian wildlife, killing them silently on rooftops all over the UK. It can be found in most towns and cities these days if you simply look up. So many unaccounted birds fall victim to netting weekly, designed to keep wildlife out of a designated area but entangling numerous birds, out of reach and out of sight of those who can help, leaving them to endure a long, suffering death.

These wildlife crimes have gone unpunished for far too long and we at Humane Wildlife Solutions have had enough. We are pushing for enforcement of the laws that exist to protect entangled wildlife but all too often the police don’t act, allowing repeat offenders to get away with murder! We ultimately want all netting removed if it is not able to be checked every 24 hours by staff, and if they can’t check every inch of the netting it can’t operate legally and should be removed. Then for the cases where crimes are committed and evidence is presented to the police we want them to uphold the law and enforce it. We have had a case where 13 birds became victims to a single canopy of netting and we gathered all the evidence the police needed to prosecute but they refused to act as they had made a deal with the netting owners to allow them off the hook. Even when we tried to hand them key evidence for the case, they refused to take it. We believe this is because there is no precedent in law of prosecuting these types of crime, despite the law being there to be tried.

To help in this campaign I’m asking you, on behalf of YOUR local wildlife, to report any trapped birds that you find in bird netting, dead or alive, from today or years ago, as we are gathering as many cases of birds dying (or just becoming trapped) in netting as possible to build an evidence log to show just how big of a problem netting has become. As I write this the evidence file grows as people report cases to us - 6 pigeons here, another 3 gulls there, it's endless and it's got to stop, and with YOUR help we can end the suffering. At this moment the total number of cases I have been sent stands at 118 reported and 284 victims in total, and these are the ones people can see and know of as there will be lots more we never get to see or help.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We are asking for everyone to share their sightings. If you have seen posts or in-person incidents where birds have become stuck in netting, send us a private message with the location and dates of the incident, and any photos if you have them. We want old and new incidents to build up our case for change. Please send the following if you can:

1 - Exact location of the netting

2 - Date when the incident was witnessed

3 - Photos of birds in netting, if you have them

4 - Type of bird/animal trapped in the netting (don’t worry if you’re not 100% confident on species)

EMAIL - info@humanewildlifesolutions.co.uk

This information will build up the evidence that changes are needed around bird netting.

With YOUR help we might just be able to affect change in enforcement, regulation, or the law itself, and help stop more birds dying in netting.