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Gulls may seem to take over beaches—and squawk and hover until they finagle food—but they still don’t deserve beer-can collars. That’s exactly what’s happening in the San Francisco Bay Area where, since mid-August, five gulls have been spotted with cut up cans intentionally ringed around their necks, according to and . “It has been confirmed by wildlife experts that someone is maliciously catching gulls and collaring them with cut beer cans,” . 

 

This isn’t a case of the trash-loving birds rifling through yesterday’s happy hour refuse either. “It’s not a hoax,” Rebecca Dmytryk from WildRescue . “We just spent two days trying to catch a real bird with a real Budweiser beer can around it's neck.” 

 

The two aid groups are working together to catch the culprit of this federal crime, which they say is punishable under the and which prevents the birds from getting the nutrition they need or properly cleaning their wings. For a little motivation, the organizations have offered a $2,500 reward—which started as $1,000, but that anonymous donations upped—for capture of the responsible party.

 

If you spot one of these helpless gulls, don’t try to catch it, the rescue groups say. Instead, call them at (831) 429-2323 or e-mail rescue@wildrescue.org. Going after the birds could result in scaring them further, making capture and collar removal more difficult later.