Residents of a California neighborhood are calling for accountability after a disturbing video appeared to show a mail carrier allegedly attacking their beloved peacock with a rock.
The bird, affectionately known as Sugar, was allegedly pelted with a rock and then struck again with what appeared to be a club or stick after he followed the unidentified postal worker back toward his truck.
The incident surfaced after Pasadena schoolteacher Gina Davis grew alarmed when Sugar was found dazed and would not eat or drink.
Davis and her daughter had helped look after the striking white peacock for years, and over time Sugar had become a treasured fixture in the neighborhood.
‘He pretty much is known by the entire neighborhood,’ Davis told the Los Angeles Times. ‘Everyone takes care of him.’
But when Davis reviewed footage from her home security camera, she said she was shaken by what she saw.
The video allegedly shows the postal worker throwing a rock at Sugar.
Rather than running away, the peacock trailed the mailman toward his vehicle and stood firm directly in front of the truck.
The bird stood her ground as she refused to surrender and move from the truck
That was when the encounter became even more violent.
The brazen mailman got out of his truck carrying what appeared to be a club or stick and allegedly struck Sugar again.
‘He got out of his truck and had a club or stick or something and hit it,’ Davis said, describing the blow as landing around the bird’s head or neck.
The footage has since sent shockwaves through the Pasadena neighborhood, where residents say Sugar has long been a familiar and much-loved presence.
Davis’s concerned neighbor called Pasadena Humane, whose staff went to the property backyard to help the injured bird.
Once officials were shown the security footage, they arranged for Sugar to be examined by a veterinarian before taking him to the organization’s Wildlife Center.
There, vets found several minor wounds and areas of swelling. X-rays, however, revealed that the bird had luckily suffered no broken bones.
Kevin McManus, a Pasadena Humane spokesperson, said Sugar’s prognosis was thankfully positive and that he would remain under observation for several more days.
It didn’t seem to deter the mailman as the power struggle continued
Meanwhile, Animal Control has launched an animal cruelty investigation and is seeking additional security footage from nearby homes.
The US Postal Service is conducting its own investigation. The mail carrier seen in the footage has not been publicly identified.
USPS spokesperson Kristina Uppal told the LA Times that postal employees in the area had experienced previous encounters with peacocks and that the service had been working with Pasadena Humane over concerns involving the birds.
‘We take allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously and will take appropriate action, as warranted, consistent with Postal Service policies,’ she said.
As outrage mounts, Davis says her primary concern is not what happens to the mailman – but Sugar’s safety.
‘I don’t want to see him fired,’ Davis admitted to the outlet. ‘But I would like to see him given a different route.’
The footage has been painful for Davis and her family to endure.
‘It’s heartbreaking to watch,’ she said. ‘We are very sad.’
Sugar remains at the Wildlife Center while his condition is monitored, leaving the neighborhood waiting anxiously for news of its beloved feathered friend.
He may eventually be released back onto the streets he has called home for years.
But after the terrifying encounter, Davis says there is one hope above all others: that Sugar has somewhere safe to return to.
‘He may be released back to the neighborhood,’ she said. ‘But at this point we’re hoping he’s got a safe place to live.’
