Man Arrested for Freeing Caged Birds At Park

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — St. Petersburg police have arrested a 21-year-old man on animal cruelty charges after detectives say he cut holes in aviary cages and freed 10 injured birds — all while videotaping.

Blake Richard Riede was arrested Thursday. Police said he uploaded the video of him freeing the birds on YouTube. The video was entitled “Saving Some Birds.”

A bald eagle, two turkey vultures, a red tailed hawk, two red shouldered hawks and one barred owl were missing, while three owls were still nearby. Park workers and volunteers managed to recapture all but one of the birds. A red shouldered hawk is still missing.

Many of the birds couldn’t fly due to wing injuries.

While videotaping his actions, the suspect identified himself when he turned the camera on himself.

Source: Associated Press