When I'm eating at home, I'm always very careful not to leave any crumbs around. I wouldn't want bugs and pests coming around and eating anything I might have dropped.
If I eat outside, though, I'm not nearly as worried. There are always animals outside that can eat anything I drop. Sometimes, I even leave a few extra crumbs if there are pigeons or squirrels nearby that look hungry.
This is a pretty normal thing to do; people love feeding birds, especially children.
Katie Trudgill, who lives in the UK, didn't think twice about letting her kids dump their crumbs onto the ground outside after they'd finished their lunchtime sausage rolls. There were pigeons nearby that quickly swarmed over and started pecking at the crumbs as soon as the kids dropped them.
Katie made sure to toss the plastic bags in the garbage, but then a city worker slapped her with a $95 (£80) fine for littering!
Thumbnail Photo: SWNS // Wikimedia Commons / Matthieu Riegler
[H/T: Mirror]
Katie Trudgill decided to grab a bite to eat while out shopping with her kids, 3-year-old Finley and 5-year-old Amelia.
They decided to get sausage rolls, which they happily ate outside.
After they were finished eating, Amelia and Finley dumped their leftover crumbs onto the ground for the birds to eat.
Katie took their empty bags and put them into the trash.
That's when a council worker approached Katie and accused her children of littering.
The man gave her a $95 fine.
Katie was absolutely baffled. She told Mirror, "They had bits of pastry at the bottom of their bags, and they have tipped it out to the pigeons. I didn't know anything about it, or else I would not have let my kids do it."
Katie was specifically trying not to litter; she made sure to take the empty bags from her children and throw them away so as to not leave them on the ground outside.
She never expected a few leftover crumbs would be considered littering.
She explained:
They were just tipping out to the pigeons. No rubbish was on the floor, as I had taken the bags off them and put them in the bin.
When he came over, there was nothing on the floor, as there were that many pigeons — on the ticket receipt, it says 'I believe' rather than 'I witnessed' her doing it.
Some people have told Katie that she should take the fine to court and argue it, but she doesn't want to do that. Instead, she might just pay the fine.
According to a city council spokesperson, "Feeding the pigeons in the city centre is discouraged as it can attract vermin and then makes the streets and buildings dirty. It is classified as a littering offence."
How would you feel if you got a fine for pouring some crumbs on the ground?
This will definitely make me think twice before I feed birds in my area!
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