For more than a decade, the US government has been allowing the killing of seagulls at Puget Sound ferry terminals, Christine Clarridge of the Seattle Times reports, after employees have complained of bird dropping-related illnesses and aggressive birds. The gulls are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, but provisions in the federal law have allowed U.S. Department of Agriculture to euthanize the birds if they “threaten public health and safety.” Two Washington State troopers are currently under investigation in a case from July, in which batons were used to kill two seagulls.
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