Birds killed by thugs

The battered bodies and trampled plumage of the fully grown male birds were discovered inside their aviary at Pinebank Community Centre.

A silver peahen which shared the compound was missing and Tommy McCausland, animal assistant at Pinebank, believed the bird was targeted by the thieves.

He said: “I was very surprised that the geese next door were not touched. To me this isn’t just vandalism - if it were, they would have done the lot in. They were in to get the peahen.

“She’s worth about 35 but her mate was a black shouldered peacock, which is quite rare, so the thieves didn’t know much about what they were doing.”

The raiders forced their way into the aviary with a metal bar after climbing over a fence. Guard dogs which patrolled the enclosed Community Centre were locked out of the area by the thieves before they brutally put the birds to death.