Public disgust for NJ man accused of beheading seagull at Jersey Shore

Lots of disgust from the public after a Cape May man was charged with animal cruelty for a deadly attack on a seagull at the Jersey Shore.

The 29-year-old has been accused of beheading a seagull at a popular Wildwood location.

On July 6, North Wildwood police were called to Morey’s Pier at 2501 Boardwalk Avenue, where witnesses said that a man later identified as Franklin Zeigler had decapitated one of the birds.

Zeigler told officers that the seagull had tried to take a french fry from his daughter, 6ABC Action News reported.

He was also charged with third-degree animal cruelty.

While there have been a sporadic number of comments on social media about the public nuisance that seagulls can be as they circle for food, an overwhelming number of comments voice concern for such an aggressive response by a human.

Many comments online said that such a brutal killing of the bird in front of any children was traumatic, in itself.

There have also been more than 43,000 signatures to an online petition, aimed at getting North Wildwood police to require Zeigler undergo counseling and be banned from pet ownership.

“What we do know is that authorities have a responsibility to prevent this man from ever doing this again,” according to a petition description from Care 2 team.

The petition continues “That's why we're asking that, in addition to any punishment applied to his animal cruelty charges, this man must be sentenced to mandated mental health counseling. We're also demanding that he never be allowed to own animals. Any pets in this person's care obviously face too much risk.”

Another southern NJ beach had a similar case seven years ago, in which an older man was never charged.

In that Ocean City incident, video was taken after the man threw a beach umbrella at a seagull, piercing its neck, PhillyVoice.com reported.

Police responded and the man told them the bird had acted aggressively to his granddaughter — which a later witness disagreed with.

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