Frankston retail arcade a ‘death trap’ for birds and danger to pedestrians

Distressing footage of birds trapped in a derelict Frankston mall has been released as wildlife carers call for urgent action.

A derelict Frankston mall is now a “death trap” for birds and wildlife carers are calling for urgent action.

Shocking footage has revealed a retail arcade that runs between Keys Street and Nepean Highway is littered with dead seagulls and pigeons.

Live birds desperately trying to escape the boarded buildings at 433 Nepean Highway were also visible in a series of distressing videos posted by Paris Yves Read.

Ms Read, who runs a private bird sanctuary and rescues companion birds, has called for urgent action to free the wildlife.

The Mt Eliza woman said despite alerting authorities to the trapped birds on July 22, nothing had been done.

“You can see the trapped birds desperately trying to get out,” she said.

“In some cases the mates and young of the trapped birds are crying outside the building for them.”

Seagulls are Australian native water birds that are protected under the Victorian Wildlife Act 1975.

It is also an offence to shoot, disturb or trap pigeons without a license or exemption.

Ms Read said the mall, which has street frontage on Keys Street and Nepean Highway was “falling apart”, with large holes and pieces of building materials in danger of landing on pedestrians below.

“There’s also a section where you can see what looks like asbestos showing,” she said.

“There’s a real risk of some of those building materials falling off and smashing onto pedestrians.”

A petition started by Ms Yves Read on Saturday calling for the birds to be freed had been signed by 606 people by Tuesday afternoon.

Wildlife Victoria has visited the site multiple times and tried to gain access.

“This is an increasingly dire situation that Wildlife Victoria are desperate to resolve,” a spokeswoman said.

“Failure to attend to the plight of native species in need may mean that parties could be found to be in breach of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals legislation.”

The arcade is privately owned and Frankston Council does not have legal authority to act.

Leader understands council officers attended the site on Monday morning and have notified Wildlife Victoria and the RSPCA.

Leader has identified the property owner and alerted them to the issue.

The owner, who Leader has chosen not to name, said the property was managed by other family members one of which was currently overseas.

The owner committed to contacting the family members and asking them to investigate.

The RSPCA has confirmed it received a cruelty report about 433 Nepean Highway, however, the organisation does not manage complaints involving wildlife.

The complaint has been referred to the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP).