A Pasadena mail carrier was caught on home security video throwing a rock at a neighborhood peacock and then striking it again, setting off an investigation by postal officials and animal welfare authorities. The bird, known to neighbors as Sugar, was later found disoriented and would not eat or drink.
Gina Davis, a Pasadena schoolteacher whose family has cared for the peacock for years, said rewatching the video has been painful. She said the bird was a fixture in the neighborhood and that most people who lived nearby knew him and looked after him. The footage, she said, showed the peacock following the mail carrier to his truck after the first blow.
Davis said Sugar was standing in front of the truck when the mail carrier got out again and hit him with what looked like a club or stick. Pasadena Humane then worked with the bird in a neighbor's backyard and called a veterinarian after seeing the video. The peacock is now at Pasadena Humane's Wildlife Center, where a veterinarian found several minor wounds with areas of swelling. X-rays showed nothing appears to be broken, and the bird's prognosis is good.
The case has become a point of anger in the neighborhood because Sugar was not just another bird to the people who live there. He had lived in the area for years, and neighbors had taken care of him. Davis said the video has been heartbreaking to watch and that her family is very sad.
Still, she said she does not want the mail carrier fired. What she wants is for him to be given a different route. That leaves the question of discipline in the hands of the Postal Service, which said it takes allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously and will take appropriate action as warranted under its policies.
Postal authorities have not identified the mailman in the video, and Pasadena Humane Animal Control is still looking for additional footage from neighbors as it investigates. Kristina Uppal said postal employees in the area have had previous encounters with peacocks and that the Postal Service has been working with Pasadena Humane over concerns involving the birds. For Sugar, the next step is simpler and more delicate: several more days of monitoring before anyone knows how fully he will recover.
