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In 1983, auctions and sales of pet animals in public places were outlawed, but Bournemouth BC seemed set to remain behind the times.

In January 2005 a SARC street teamer noticed that a bird auction was to be held at Kinson Community Centre, Bournemouth after seeing adverts asking the public to bring their 'spare birds' for them to sell. They alerted us straight away and we began to investigate.

We got advice from the Animal Protection Agency (APA) who confirmed our initial thoughts that this auction was illegal under the 1983 Act. So we both approached Bournemouth council and informed them of the act and the various risks involved in holding the event. Both the community centre owners and the council refused to cancel the event and even refused to inform the organiser that the event would be breaking the law.

SARC sent along one of our investigators with a dictaphone to bear witness to the days events. The APA also attended with a pinhole camera. What follows is our SARC investigators account of the event.

“I entered the bird auction soon after the viewing had begun. The first thing that I noticed was a printed sign on the reception desk which stated: “THIS IS A MEMBERS ONLY EVENT”. I was quickly informed that you had to become a member “because of Animal Rights stuff going on”.

Because the sale of live animals in public places was banned in 1983, caged bird clubs (such as Poole & Parkstone Caged Birds Society, who organised this event), make members of the public pay to enter the event. This is a very dubious way of making it a private event. Shockingly, in this instance the council had actually advised the organiser to use this loophole. Later on the organiser told the entire assembly that the membership fee was vital to make the auction legal.

It was also mentioned that this fee was only in place this time because of the interest from animal rights groups.

As I ventured further into the room, I overheard a conversation between three men. They were huddled together, discussing animal rights activists. Apparently there were to be three animal rights organisations at the event. Two of these groups were, of course, SARC, and the Animal Protection Agency (APA) who were covertly filming. The speaker continued by saying, “look around, there isn’t a single wild bird here, the flyers said we had wild birds… that was just written on it to bring the people in.”

As I moved towards the front of the room, I heard another man showing the extent of his animal welfare concerns: “You just gotta make sure you’ve got holes in the box, and then no one can come ‘ere - no one can come here and say we’re doing something wrong.”

All in all there were about 200 birds for sale, from budgies and finches, to quails and bantams. There were also lovebirds and conure parrots.

The welfare of these birds was disturbing to say the least. Many of the budgies were huddled in their cages, burying their faces in their wings. Some of the cockatiels already had eggs, despite being clearly too young to safely breed. They were huddled together on the cage floor, visibly shocked, wide eyed and panting. The cages were far too small for the birds, even for the 6-7 hours that they were in the hall. The birds were sat in waste, and the cages stunk.

As well as the birds, there was a variety of other items for sale, included nest boxes, many of which were unclean, some even contained maggots.

Unsurprisingly there were large signs up banning photography - clearly they want to keep their sordid hobby secret. It was also interesting to note that a small cafe selling snacks and drinks was located right next to the stacks of birds. This rang serious warning bells in relation to health and safety guidelines.

I think I’ll leave the last words to one of the regular auction goers: “a hall full of canaries? That’s not good publicity is it?””

The council have been repeatedly approached, and urged to ban future illegal bird sales. Despite this they have sent out an automated reply, which does not answer the simple question: Why did they aid and abet this illegal event by instructing the organiser to use a highly suspicious loop hole?

What Followed

At the auction a further event was advertised to take place at Digby Hall in Sherborne. West Dorset Council were contacted, who told the APA that the market organisers had told them the event was a private sale. The council quickly saw through this when it was clear from the advert that the event was open to the public subject to a £1.00 admission charge! - The event was cancelled!

Bird Flu

Yet another event was planned for November 2005 at the Kinson Community Centre. Luckily with the Bird Flu scare, DEFFRA put a stop to the event and no action was required from us to try and halt the illegal auction.

What you can do:

If you see any adverts for bird auctions or fayres, please report them to us and your local council as a matter of urgency.