Hamden Firefighters Receive PETA Award for Rescuing Bird Tangled in Tree

First Responders Use Pike Poles and Pruning Shears to Free Robin Trapped by Balloon String

For Immediate Release:
June 8, 2015

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

A Compassionate Fire Department Award is on its way from PETA to the Hamden Fire Department for its clever rescue of a robin who was found hanging upside down from a tree branch, tangled in a balloon string. Realizing that the branches would not support the weight of a ladder, firefighters reportedly used pruning shears taped to long pike poles to carefully lower the bird to the ground. They successfully untangled the string, and shortly after, the robin flew off, evidently unharmed.

“Thanks to these firefighters’ patience and dedication, this little robin escaped a terrifying and potentially deadly ordeal,” says PETA Senior Director Colleen O’Brien. “PETA hopes their compassion will inspire people everywhere to come to the aid of animals in need.”

The Hamden Fire Department will receive a framed certificate, a box of vegan cookies, and a copy of The Engine Two Diet—a Texas firefighter’s 28-day plan for staying in prime firefighting shape through eating plant-based meals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—offers tips for helping wildlife on its website and encourages everyone to properly dispose of their garbage. Wildlife rehabilitators suggest celebrating birthdays and other events without balloons, which often end up polluting the environment, and stress the importance of crushing recyclable and nonrecyclable cans and cups and cutting through all plastic rings so that animals do not become stuck in them.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.