Suffolk SPCA Rescues Unwanted Peacocks

The Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Friday announced it had rescued three peacocks who had escaped their enclosure near Sheep Pasture Road in Port Jefferson late Thursday night.

SPCA chief Roy Gross said the three birds, including two males and a female, first escaped May 31 and were observed sitting in a tree; they were returned to their pen. However, he said, Port Jefferson village constables called again Thursday night to report the peacocks were on the loose once more.

Gross said the birds' owners had left the country and left them in the care of other relatives, who did not want to keep them. He also said neighbors had complained that the peacocks were making too much noise.

After the birds got loose the second time, the SPCA called the Holtsville Ecology Center and arranged to have the birds cared for there.

"I think it’s a great place to have them, the Holtsville Ecology Center," Gross told Patch on Friday. "There could have been all kinds of issues. They could have been attacked by other animals or hit by a car, but it worked out."