"It's absolutely disturbing": Sadistic slingshot attack leaves trail of 29 dead pigeons along Southsea beach - investigation launched

Volunteers from the West Sussex Wildlife Protection (WSWP) and Portsmouth Pigeon People raced to South Parade Pier beachfront on Monday, December 29, 2025 after receiving distressing reports of multiple dead pigeons.

The deceased birds were dotted along the shore, with only one surviving the slingshot attack.

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Brandon Pragnell has been a coordinator at the West Sussex Wildlife Protection for a year and a half, and was contacted by Portsmouth Pigeon People for advice regarding the attack.

The 21-year-old said: “It was quite disturbing because there were several with no heads and several with ball bearing wounds. It’s an absolutely awful site to see - there were 29 pigeons found, one of them is alive and receiving treatment but one of the volunteers went back the next day and found another deceased pigeon.

“These pigeons were roosting under the pier and we think they did it the night before when they were sleeping so they didn’t see it coming and then they were washed along the shore.

“It is awful, and the police phoned us after and said they had pulled over a car a few days later and the boot was full of dead pigeons.

“It is getting out of control with these sling shots. We get at least one report a week.”

The surviving pigeon was taken into the care of WSWP and has been receiving treatment since the attack.

Brandon added: “He is doing very very well. He’s being transfered to one of our aviaries but he had quite a bad wound to his breast muscle so he is on antibiotics to keep him comfortable.”

A spokesperson for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has said police officers are “actively progressing all lines of enquiry to establish the circumstances” surrounding the incident.

Anyone with information about what happened is being asked to report it to the police on 101, quoting the reference number 44250583103.