My mum and dad live down a road that is plagued by seagulls, from about 5-6 in the morning the noise is terrible and given the chance they cause havoc on bin day but hey ho thats life.

Last year they found about three dead seagulls in there garden, there was no obvious wounds on the gulls but it was still strange to find that many dead ones in the space of a few weeks, i did make some calls (is that sad of me, i just hate any kind of cruelty) as i thought they'd been poisoned but nobody wanted to know (council, rspca etc) so that was that.
Anyway this morning i went to see my mum and she said her garden was full of blood, and yes it was everywhere, we had a search but couldnt find anything, i'd originally thought an injured cat, then about an hour later the neighbour came out and said they were sitting in there garden last night it was still light, when they heard an almighty bang, they said it was a pellet gun, a seagull then fell into there garden with it's foot blown off, it scooted around then flew over my parents garden, thats where all the blood is from, it then flew off.
what would you do, i keep thinking what if??? my kids go down there and my dog sometimes, i realise they probably shot it on the roof but to me it's just wrong,my mum is cross but said leave it, but its playing on my mind now and i feel i should phone the police.

If someone is shooting in a residential area they are breaking the law, regardless of what they are shooting at. I would report it to the police.

Likewise I would phone the police, yes they can be 'very' noisy & a nuisance but shooting and maiming them is wrong and illegal. Perhaps the local council as well. Good Luck

Wouldn't hesitate - police.

Absolutely...police.

Pests they may be, but taking pot shots at them is so very wrong. I imagine that poor bird would have bled to death, suffering agony until it did so.

Very wrong and needs stopping.

Apparently there is a lot of shooting of seagulls down near Brighton.  I live on the coast and they are a menace and I do think there should be a cull as there are so many of them, if the Councils aren't prepared to act on complaints made by residents, unfortunately this will happen.

a pellet gun? do you mean an air rifle? An air rifle wouldnt make the almight bang you describe! I would also doubt it would take seagulls foot off unless almost point blank. For reference, if an animal is on the pest list and a is shot on the land (be it a garden) of the air gun owner, and the pellet doesnt stray over the boundary, then its quite legal. I have shot several wood pigeons quite legally in a central london garden with an air rifle :)

Shooting seagulls is a criminal offence, with a maximum sentence of six months in jail or a £20,000 fine according to this article http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8214261.Revenge_of_the_seagulls/.  You'll also note it can have some undesired effects on the seagull population at large ;)

I live on the south coast and know what a pest they can be but people taking potshots just isn't on.

the link below gives useful information on where you can use firearms

http://www.basc.org.uk/en/codes-of-practice/air-rifles.cfm

Sam shooting and using an air rifle, paintball etc within the grounds of your garden is very different and also if you have permission to shoot wild birds again very different.

But as some of the others have said to shoot a wild bird(no permission) in which you injure or kill it is a criminal offence.

I too live on the south coast and they are complete pests, you do need to contact councils etc if they are causing too much of a problem, but it gets worse when people leave rubbish about on the streets or in bags thrown out - keep it all in a bin..

Pellet gun, air rifle ??? i'm afraid i'm not really up on guns, and as i wasnt there what they describe as a loud bang and what i do could be totally different.

They are an absolute pest thats for sure, but shooting any kind of gun/weapon in a terraced street where houses back on to other houses is just dangerous and as others have said surely illegal ??

Try contacting a local Falconer to help move the gulls on .. while it won't help with finding out what happened to the birds, Seagulls will move on when a falcon/bird of prey enters their territory... they do eventually return, but at least you will have some peace in the interim..

>Pellet gun, air rifle ??? i'm afraid i'm not really up on guns,

It's possible that they're referring to lead shot as pellets; and a shotgun (which fires a cartridge containing lead shot) would make a bang and could do the damage described.

The laws on possession and firing of a shotgun are different to that of an air rifle (which fires pellets aka slugs).

Slight hijack, I discovered yesterday one of my colleagues who lives out in the country shoots pigeons, is that allowed?? I'm such a townie still I was rather shocked, not that I'm not tempted by the idea with the hooting they do at 5am!

Yes, shooting pigeons is perfectly legal; rough shoots are very common and the best way of dealing with these pests.

Oh that's good. Interesting that it's ok for pigeons but not seagulls though!

Must say I detest seagulls and pigeons but a member of the public going around and shooting them is not the answer - apart from anything else someone could accidentally get in the way of the line of fire !

With the recent tragedies in cambridgeshire i would suspect the police take it very seriously. no matter what they are shooting it is still a worry. Does this  person have a license? if so, why are they using a gun so irresponsibly? If not, why do they ahave posession of a firearm without a license?!!