Taxi driver in Tokyo arrested for killing a pigeon

A taxi driver in Tokyo was arrested for deliberately driving into a flock of pigeons and killing one of them.

The police arrested 50-year-old Atsushi Ozawa on Sunday (Dec 3) after identifying him through surveillance camera footage of the November incident, Asahi Shimbun reported.

Police said that an arrest was necessitated because the driver’s actions were “highly malicious” given the professional nature of his job, the Fuji TV network reported.

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They added that Ozawa should be held to a higher ethical standard on the road.

Ozawa “used his car to kill a common pigeon, which is not a game animal”, a Tokyo police spokesperson told AFP news agency.

'Roads are for humans, not pigeons'

According to local media reports, the accused told the police during interrogation that he drove into the birds because “roads are for people. It’s up to the pigeons to avoid cars.”

The police were first informed of the incident after a passerby, who was startled by loud engine noise, spotted the driver moving towards the birds.

He told the police that Ozawa revived his engine after a traffic light turned green, before driving into the pigeons at around 37 miles per hour, Asahi Shimbun reported.

A postmortem examination was later performed on the pigeon, and it was found that the bird’s death was caused due to a traumatic shock.

If found guilty, Ozawa would have violated Japan's Wildlife Protection, Control, and Hunting Management Act.

Netizens dumbfounded by police's action

The unusual nature of the arrest sparked a debate on the social media platform.

"Wow, can you get arrested for running over a pigeon?" one user wrote on X.

"He could've just honked his car horn or something. But intentionally killing it? That's crossing the line," another posted.

(With inputs from agencies)