While it may be easy to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, it’s actually a surprisingly serious crime in Italy to harm or kill a pigeon. That’s because they are one of the 572 species of bird protected under European law’s Birds Directive. When looking at the annexes provided by the European Commission, it is likely that the Italian government wants to charge Bay with violating Annex 3 — this states that “activities that directly threaten birds” are punishable by law, and if true, operating a dolly in the vicinity of pigeons could fit that description.
This is not the first time Bay and his team have tried to throw out the case. The Wrap claims that negotiations to drop the case been brought on three separate occasions, but none have been successful thus far due to Italian authorities not wanting to settle until the director pleads guilty.
“I was offered by the Italian authorities a chance to settle this matter by paying a small fine,” explained Bay, “but I declined to do so because I would not plead guilty to having harmed an animal.”
Further details on the case are currently unknown.