Activists in a flap after pigeon shot in courthouse dome

Animal rights activists are in a flap after confirmation that a trapped pigeon was shot where Cork’s legal eagles dare.

The Irish Courts Service confirmed an animal control expert had to use an air pellet gun to shoot the bird when it became distressed, after spending several hours trapped in the dome area inside the city’s main courthouse building on Washington St.

John Carmody, of the Animal Rights Action Network, described it as a very sad situation which could have been prevented.