In New Taipei City a man named Lin Chin-chu heard that the birds his friend Chiu raised at home were often dying. Lin subsequently took it upon himself to go to Chiu’s house, take the birdcages and release the birds back into the wild in the nearby mountains. However, it was only after Chiu alerted the police that he found out it was actually his friend who stole the birds. In his defense, Chiu told the police he had raised birds for over 30 years, so there was no way he was incapable of raising them.
Chiu knows Lin was acting out of the kindness of his heart, so he will not take him to court. Chiu, a bird enthusiast, first discovered in early April that a birdcage he had hanging in front of his house was gone. He simply accepted his misfortune and decided not to report it to the police. However, a few days later another similar bird along with a Chinese bulbul also disappeared. Having grown quite attached to the birds because he had raised them for a while, he naturally felt sad about their disappearance and worried about their safety. Thus, he decided to alert the police.
The police obtained footage from nearby surveillance cameras, and discovered a man who went to the front of Chiu’s house riding a motorcycle. When no one else was around, the man in the footage took away the birdcage. Chiu immediately recognized the bird thief as his 69-year-old friend Lin Chin-chu. When police summoned Lin for questioning, he said he felt he had no other choice but to release the birds into the wild, because common friends had told him that Chiu was not raising his birds properly, and that many of them had died. Adamantly believing this to be a case of animal abuse, Lin decided to release the birds into the wild.
Photo: Wang Shu-hung, Taipei Times
照片:自由時報記者王述宏
Since the birds refused to fly away when he opened the cages to let them go, Lin said he decided to take the cages and free the birds in the nearby mountains of Zhonghe District.
Suspected of not properly raising his birds, Chiu kept emphasizing the fact that he has over 30 years of experience raising birds, and that the dozen or so birds at his house are doing perfectly well. In his opinion, this proves that any claims about his incapability of raising birds are complete nonsense.
(Liberty Times, translated by Taijing Wu)
新北市男子林金助耳聞,邱姓友人常把鳥養死,竟自作主張,連續到邱某家,把掛在屋簷的鳥帶往山區放生,邱某報警後得知原委。他說,自己養鳥養了三十多年,會不懂如何養嗎?
但他體諒林翁的「善心」不會提告。愛鳥的邱先生說,今年四月初,他發現掛在家門前的一隻鳥,連籠子一起不見,他自認倒楣不幸未報案,沒隔幾天,又陸續不見了一隻同種類的鳥和一隻白頭翁,這幾隻鳥都飼養了一段時間,培養出感情,既傷心又擔心小鳥安危,決定報警。
警察調閱監視器畫面,查出一名男子騎機車來到邱某家門前,趁四下無人,連籠帶鳥一併偷走,邱某一眼認出,偷鳥者正是六十九歲友人林金助,警方通知林某到案,林某無奈地說,他聽朋友說邱某不太會養鳥,經常把鳥養死,認為這樣是虐待動物,因此才堅決地把鳥放生的念頭。
林某說,他到邱家門口把鳥籠打開,但鳥兒不願離去,才帶走鳥籠,到中和區附近山區把鳥放生。
被嫌不會養鳥,邱某強調養了三十多年的鳥,現在家裡十幾隻鳥都活得好好的,說他不會養鳥,根本是胡說八道。
(自由時報記者王述宏)
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