A Pennsylvania man accused of trapping dozens of “New Yorkers’’ — a k a pigeons — at a Big Apple park to peddle them to hunters for shooting practice avoided becoming a jailbird last week.
Dwayne Daley, 67, had been charged with one count of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals — an offense punishable of up to a year in prison — when cops found more than two dozen pigeons in the back of his truck near Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan in April.
The Bushkill, Pa., resident ended up having the case against him dismissed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as part of a deal Friday.
Daley was required to avoid being re-arrested for six months after the April 30 incident, a time frame that was completed with his Friday court date.
The move left animal-rights activists fuming.
“Unlike Dwayne Daley, pigeons are New Yorkers, and attacking New Yorkers for blood sports like pigeon shoots is not only cruel, but it’s illegal,” said John Di Leonardo of Humane Long Island.
His group and others have alleged that Daley — a repeat pigeon-kidnap offender — is connected to the bird trade in Pennsylvania in which the animals are sold to gun clubs to be used as shooting targets.
Di Leonardo noted that Daley was also previously arrested in 2021 for assault for allegedly punching a man in the face in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, while he was caught caging other pigeons.
“Until prosecutors clip pigeon poachers’ wings instead of letting them fly the coop, other New Yorkers, including humans and animals, are in danger,’’ the activist said.
A DA rep — asked by The Post about Daley’s recent no-jail deal — said, “The office takes allegations of animal abuse extremely seriously, and our dedicated animal cruelty program will continue to investigate and prosecute cases involving abuse, neglect, hoarding, and organized fighting.’’
Daley was not able to be reached for comment.
Taking pigeons from public property, including city parks, is illegal and considered animal abuse, according to the city’s 311 website.
Daley’s ties to pigeon purloining go back decades, according to a 2007 New York Times article, which noted his charges stemming from a pigeon-taking incident in the 2000s were also dismissed.
“I trade and sell birds all the time. They go for about four to eight dollars,” Daley brazenly admitted after his April arrest, according to Our Town Downtown.
Prosecutors at the time alleged Daley “tortured and cruelly beat and unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated, and killed an animal, and deprived an animal of necessary sustenance, food, and drink,” the outlet said.
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