Pigeons

Pigeons. Unlawfully and wilfully to 'kill, wound, or take any house dove or pigeon under such circumstances as shall not amount to larceny at common law' is, by s. 23 of the (English) Larceny Act, 1861, punishable 'on conviction before a justice of the peace' by fine up to 2l., over and above the value of the bird, and though the owner be compensated and satisfied, any other person may prosecute, see Cotterill v. Penn, (1935) 51 TLR 459, and LQR (1935), p. 60, in which a member of the 'National Homing Union' prosecuted. As to cruelty to pigeons, see (English) Protection of Animals Act, 1911, s. 15, as amended by the Protection of Animals Act, 1927.