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Family Devastated After Seagull Picks Up Chihuahua And Flies Away

Updated August 16, 2021

No matter how good of a grip we think we have on how the world works, there's no time in our lives when things completely stop surprising us.

Although we could generally describe the last few years as a time we'd have trouble believing if we weren't experiencing it ourselves, there are some specific parts of our lives that we never would have imagined were possible.

For instance, we may not see a bird getting into a fight with a pet as anything new, but one case from the U.K. took a surprising and unfortunate turn.

Until Sunday, four-year-old Gizmo the chihuahua had a happy home in Paignton, England.

Becca Louise Hill

As Devon Live reported, he lived there with 24-year-old Becca Hill, her partner, and two other chihuahuas.

However, this suddenly changed when Becca's partner caught sight of a bizarre scene unfolding in their back yard.

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As Hill told the BBC, "A seagull swooped down and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. My partner tried to grab his legs, but he was not tall enough and... the seagull flew away."

And so, the seagull was free to carry Gizmo until both bird and dog left Hill's sight.

Becca Louise Hill

As she told Devon Live, it remains unclear where the gull took Gizmo.

As the BBC reported, there have been no sightings of the dog ever since the incident.

Although seagulls rarely attack people's dogs, they are larger than many of us may realize.

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Ornithologist Peter Rock said seagulls are perfectly capable of picking up small animals and this one could very well have viewed the 4.4 pound Gizmo as a meal. The only other alternative is that the two animals got into a fight and the seagull won.

Unfortunately, neither scenario provides Hill with much solace.

As she said, "It is not nice at all that one of my babies has gone."

h/t: Devon Live, BBC