US Man Jailed For Killing Bird That Tried Stealing Daughter’s Food

A US man was sentenced to eight months in jail after he decapitated a seagull that tried to eat his daughter’s French fries. 30-year-old Franklin Ziegler pleaded guilty to third-degree animal cruelty for the July 2024 incident, which took place in front of horrified onlookers on the North Wildwood boardwalk.

While his total sentence was 263 days, Ziegler was released from the Cape May County Jail last month after receiving credit for time already served. In addition to his time behind bars, he was ordered to pay a small fine of $250 and placed into a recovery court programme.

“He was released from Cape May County Jail on Feb. 12 following a guilty plea entered in Cape May County Superior Court,” Ziegler’s attorney, Jack Tumelty, was quoted as saying by the New York Post.

“Mr Ziegler was sentenced to recovery court probation (special probation) on Thursday, March 12, 2026, and will be receiving outpatient treatment.”

‘Slap On The Wrist’

On July 6, 2024, Ziegler was arrested near the Surfside Pier at Morey’s Piers in North Wildwood after witnesses saw him decapitate a seagull. Enraged because the bird tried to take his daughter’s French fries, Ziegler reportedly approached staff members while clutching the dead bird and asked for a trash bag. A grand jury indicted him on animal cruelty charges on June 24, 2025, a year after the initial charges were filed.

The sentencing, however, has not gone down well with animal rights activists, who claimed that Ziegler’s jail time was just “a slap on the wrist”.

“This was a brutal act of torture committed in broad daylight in front of children,” said Dolly Stanley, the senior campaigner for In Defense of Animals’ Justice.

“It is extremely disappointing that while the FBI recognizes the link between domestic violence and animal cruelty, and Ziegler embodies this risk, Cape May County Court has failed to protect community members of all species,” Stanley added.