Sparrow shot to death in the netherlands!

[gandalf the white 0]

article

Sparrow knocks over 23,000 dominoes before being shot

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A sparrow knocked over 23,000 dominoes in the Netherlands, nearly ruining a world record attempt before it was shot to death Monday, the state news agency reported.

The unfortunate bird flew through an open window at an exposition center in the northern city of Leeuwarden where employees of television company Endemol NV have worked for weeks setting up more than 4 million dominoes in an attempt to break the official Guinness World Record for falling dominoes on Friday night.

Only a system of 750 built-in gaps in the chain prevented the bird from knocking most or all of the dominoes over ahead of schedule, "Domino Day" organizers were quoted as saying by the NOS news agency.

The bird was shot by an exterminator with an air rifle while cowering in a corner.

The organizers are out to break their own record of 3,992,397 dominoes set last year with a record of 4,321,000.

Now along with all the laughing this invoked involving stories about the sparrow being a kamikaze bird trained by the japanese (current record holder), this has also caused quite a stir up. The guy that shot the sparrow has even been threatened with his life.

The question people are asking themselves is: "What are the limits to animal cruelty to save a piece of entertainment?"

Understandably there is allot of money and (the builder's) emotion involved in this, However, was it still enough to justify killing another living being?

In my opinion there was little other way to save the record. catching a sparrow in such a large space is nearly impossible, and the chances of it causing more havoc were large. However, can you still be happy wich such a record when you had to kill something innocent for it?

I think that a picture of a sparrow made of about 2300(0?) dominoes would be a good tribute, the small bird managed to put our minds on this subject.

Kind of on the border of being "too ot for ot", but since it might prove an interesting discussion i'm taking the wage .

[brataccas 0]

crazy dutch people was there any reason why he shot it?

[Postduifje 0]

Radio DJ Ruud de Wild has awarded 3000 euro for anyone who manages to ruin the record attempt by knocking over the domino's too early.

So no time to discuss this here, I'm on a mission!

[soul_assassin 1750]

crazy dutch people was there any reason why he shot it?

what u MEAN WHY? The dominoes man the dominoes. National pride and tressure here in holland they have the DOMINOE day! BUt yeh lol too OT for OT.

[gandalf the white 0]

I know it's easy to joke about it, but there is still a serious issue behind this : In what case does saving a commercial entertainment event justify animal crualty?

[soul_assassin 1750]

I know it's easy to joke about it, but there is still a serious issue behind this : In what case does saving a commercial entertainment event justify animal crualty?

well ive ive just spent months setting up 4,000,000 (just think about that number!!! dominoes and if u came in and started wrecking it I would be pretty pissed off and maybe not kill u but give u a pretty wild beating.

[Postduifje 0]

I would say no. Although there's probably a lot of money behind this, the decision to eliminate the poor creature seemed a little harshly done. And because the sparrow is a protected creature, a little more consideration would be in place.

So under normal circumstances no, but this is Domino D-day man, that's almost as good as the Eurovision Song Contest!

Oh yeah, and the environmental organisation gave a nice example: What if one of the employees would fall and knock over the same amount of stones, would he/she be executed?

[Mr. Cheese 0]

Should've beat it to death with a giant playing card.

[soul_assassin 1750]

So under normal circumstances no, but this is Domino D-day man, that's almost as good as the Eurovision Song Contest!

LOL man dont even mention the EV contest. I sometimes think its the primary cause of all world's evil. Some ppl watch it and then baaam, never the same again.

Quote[/b] ]Oh yeah, and the environmental organisation gave a nice example: What if one of the employees would fall and knock over the same amount of stones, would he/she be executed?

hmm good question, ill have to ponder on that, but atm im leaning towards........yes, public execution: stoned to death by 26000 dominoes.

[EiZei 0]

Uhh.. any of you guys eat any meat today?

[Bordoy 0]

Uhh.. any of you guys eat any meat today?

Did the dutch guys eat the bird?

I bet not.

Why didn't think keep the windows closed (because wind can happen too)? If it was too hot, don't the dutch have air conditioning?

[Ironsight 1]

[shinRaiden 0]

1) With the paranoia over bird flu possibley more contagious and deadly than the flu itself, I'm suprised that all they did was pop it.

2) If it smacked into a wall or window, it could have been animal euthanasia.

3) Small critters, especially hyperactive ones, can more easily be stressed to death. Same as #2.

4) There's automatic domino placers, so it shouldn't take that much effort to set them up.

5) Any video of said event definately merits cross-posting to ebaumsworlds and cross-posting on all internet forums.

Thank you.

[mr reality 0]

Well i think that whoever left the window open should be forced to eat the remains of the dead bird. And the guy who shot it should have the gun barrel ramed up his ass

[Heatseeker 0]

If he was shot atleast he died fast, shooting a sparrow considered cruel given the circunstances... nah.

Where i live there are sparrows everywhere, not long ago one entered my bedroom and landed inside my closet. I was terrified about the possible result if the small bird had one nasty nature call, fortunetely my window is quite big and i managed to make him use it .

When i was very young one sparrow entered my class room and while trying to leave he killed himself by raming atleast 5 times against the window, i remember me and a bunch of depressed kids for the rest of the day...

hmm, why are we discussing about sparrows here anyway .

[da12thMonkey 1943]

It's a bloody sparrow! They're common as muck, does it really matter if a bloke shot it? It's not like he just gunned down an Osprey.

I doubt anyone'd care if it was something equally common like a rat, mouse or pigeon.

[gandalf the white 0]

4) There's automatic domino placers, so it shouldn't take that much effort to set them up.

1. this is not done automatic. every stone is placed in sets of twenty (for lines) , or by hand.

2. 12000 dominos are placed a day.

[Postduifje 0]

It's a bloody sparrow! They're common as muck, does it really matter if a bloke shot it? It's not like he just gunned down an Osprey.

I doubt anyone'd care if it was something equally common like a rat, mouse or pigeon.

They're not common as muck, it's actually a protected specie...

[da12thMonkey 1943]

Depends what kind of sparrow it is.

The only species of Sparrow I know are native to Holland are House Sparrows and Tree Sparrows. Both of these species are extremely common in the UK and well spread accross Europe so I can't see why their abundance is any different in Holland.

Since the bird was in an urban area it was probably a House Sparrow since these live in close proximity to humans (about 30 of them roost in a hedge at the bottom of my garden and I had a pair nesting in the roof of my garage last spring). They are the most common species of Sparrow that exists in Europe, in fact most people consider them the most common bird in the UK (this isn't actually true though).

Edit:- after reading up on this you're right, they're protected in the Netherlands since their population is falling, however they are still the second most common species of bird over there after the Blackbird. My appoligies.

[GoOB 0]

4) There's automatic domino placers, so it shouldn't take that much effort to set them up.

1. this is not done automatic. every stone is placed in sets of twenty (for lines) , or by hand.

2. 12000 dominos are placed a day.

Oh god! Why is this done?! Are they supposed to be knocked down later?

[gandalf the white 0]

4) There's automatic domino placers, so it shouldn't take that much effort to set them up.

1. this is not done automatic. every stone is placed in sets of twenty (for lines) , or by hand.

2. 12000 dominos are placed a day.

Oh god! Why is this done?! Are they supposed to be knocked down later?

correct .

Da12thmonkey, the fact people are getting upset was because the bird was killed to save a piece of entertainment.

Above that the sparrow is actually protected in the netherlands, because of lack of suitable nesting grounds . They're common around places that still have dakpannen , because they nest there (wich is why we call it the Huismus AKA domesticated sparrow)

[orange juice 0]

sparrows rock! i doubt anyone would dare to fight one bare handed. they were so lucky to have that air gun!

[Heatseeker 0]

"Sparrow shot to death in the netherlands!"

OMG !one11e!even11!!11

There are people starving to death in the world we all live too.. war, aids, polution, the Amazon forest, the ozone laier, but the sparrow was actually shot to death .

Maybe i could send not one, not two but 3 sparrows over there, because really, we have extra over here .

[Supah 0]

It's a bloody sparrow! They're common as muck, does it really matter if a bloke shot it? It's not like he just gunned down an Osprey.

I doubt anyone'd care if it was something equally common like a rat, mouse or pigeon.

Actually here the sparrow is on the edge of extinction due to building methodes etcetera. Well when I say here I mean OVER THERE in the Randstad, the overpopulated cesspool. Where it actually was shot in Friesland, where I live so it has to be great, they are still relatively common but not as much as there were in the old days. Anyway I think it stupid to shoot it, I like birds and I rather look at a sparrow for 2 hours then some boring domino thing that's been done 11 times. GeenStijl offered 1000 euro's first then that DJ fella joined in, Down with the dominoes I say!

[da12thMonkey 1943]

Seems so strange that a bird that lives in buildings is running out of habitat but I know what you mean; it was mentioned on the news here that numbers of sparrows in British city centres were dropping, but populations seem pretty normal elsewhere. I suppose it's because of the way modern cities have large tower blocks with internal drainage, flat roofs and concrete instead of brickwork. Obviously the scale of this happening over here is nowhere near as bad as it is in the Netherlands if you've had to protect the species.

I know shooting it was unnecessary but the idea of animals being killed doesn't really bother me unless it's purely for the person's own amusement or the animal's a real rarity that stands little hope of its species surviving much longer, so I don't see the what the fuss is about really.  I doubt anything else they could have tried would have gotten rid of it, and I bet they tried alot of other methods first.

My dad absolutely adores birds, he travels all over the country whenever he has some spare time to watch the things but if an animal control bloke couldn't catch a sparrow stuck up by the ceiling one of the huge workshops where we work, I'm certain he wouldn't mind that much if a bloke shot it.

I'd rather watch a sparrow than see some dominoes get knocked over too, but I'd want to see it outside living the life it was hatched into, not stuck in a huge hall, scared out of its wits until it starves to death or dies of stress.

Ed:- Man, my spelling sucks...