EXCLUSIVE
Molly the Magpie and her Staffordshire Terrier best friends Peggy and Ruby could be separated once again after a Gold Coast couple’s licence to keep the bird is understood to have been overturned by a court.
Molly and her canine companions, Peggy and Ruby, live with Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen at their Gold Coast home and have become social media stars.
The magpie was removed from the property in March when authorities learnt Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen had no permit to care for native wildlife, but the bird was returned six weeks later after a public outcry.
In September, Legal firm XD Law & Advocacy launched Supreme Court action against Queensland’s Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) for granting a wildlife permit to the couple.
The firm was acting on behalf of an unnamed wildlife rescue volunteer who had the support of dozens of other animal carers, many of whom had been viciously targeted by online trolls over the row.
Jack Vaughan from XD Law and Advocacy told Daily Mail the Supreme Court overturned the granting of the specialised licence to Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen on Monday.
He said the court’s order was made with the consent of DESI, which would now determine what now happens to Molly.
The wildlife volunteer who took court action previously told Daily Mail that magpies were not suitable pets and suffered when kept in domestic captivity and that Molly – who is actually male – would likely not survive.
That was also DESI’s original position when it first removed Molly from Ms Wells and Mr Mortensen’s home.
‘It is alleged that the bird was taken from the wild and kept unlawfully, with no permit, licence or authority being issued by DESI,’ a departmental spokesman said at the time.
DESI had independent veterinary advice Molly could never be returned to the wild, meaning he would need to be sent to a sanctuary or euthanised.
Molly and Peggy have 1.3 million followers on Facebook and almost 1 million more on Instagram, and the resultant public backlash led to an extraordinary intervention by Queensland’s then-premier, Steven Miles.
Mr Miles dismissed criticism he had caved in to social media pressure by allowing Ms Wells and Mortensen to keep Molly, and said granting them a permit was the ‘common sense’ approach.
‘I’m not a bird expert but he looks really well and healthy to me,’ Mr Miles said when he visited Molly in the couple’s home.
DESI granted Ms Wells a permit to keep Molly after they agreed to conditions including not profiting from the magpie or its image, undertaking the appropriate training and advocating for wildlife.
XD Law & Advocacy argued that decision was made on political grounds due to media pressure and set a precedent for anyone to keep a wild animal.
‘We became involved when we saw volunteer wildlife carers being pilloried and abused for sticking up for the laws of Queensland preventing wildlife being turned into pets,’ lawyer Jack Vaughan said.
‘These are the people who arrive in the middle of the night when you find an injured animal by the road. They do it for nothing. More often than not they pay for the medicines and food needed as well.
‘They represent the best of and yet some of them were receiving death threats for suggesting that the department’s actions were illegal. We agreed with them and it seems the court does too.’
Mr Vaughan said DESI had been ‘given the opportunity to show it followed the proper processes and standards in granting the carer’s licence’.
‘To show that it was not just giving a compliant nod to a premier who wanted photos of himself with a magpie on his head and a couple of social media influencers,’ he added.
‘They failed to show proper reasoning for the licence according to their governing legislation.’
The volunteer who took action said she was grateful to the Supreme Court and ‘proud of all the wildlife carers who stood up for the law when the department and the former premier failed to do so’.
‘We are the ones who deal with the wreckage of the social media fad of capturing baby magpies and training them to do cute tricks,’ she said.
‘There is nothing cute about wings and legs bitten off by family pets. There is nothing cute about seeing a domesticated magpie ferociously attacked by a wild flock when they first interact.
‘To see the former premier encouraging this idiocy in a desperate attempt to gain votes and a social media following was pathetic.
‘To see the Department of Environment go along with the circus and start issuing licences was a step too far.’
The volunteer said she would not comment on what should happen to Molly.
‘This action was not about one Magpie – it was about reinforcing Queensland’s wildlife protection laws and the integrity of the wildlife licensing system,’ she said.
Ms Wells and Mr Mortenson had been distraught over the legal challenge to take Molly from their home yet again.
‘Molly’s 100 per cent, and always has been, our focus. We just want to just move on and just get on with it,’ Mr Mortensen told A Current Affair in September.
‘Four years ago yesterday, when we came across a little magpie, who would have thought we’d be standing in front of the Supreme Court here in Brisbane,’ Ms Wells said.
‘Molly’s happy, healthy and alive. Bossy, barking and being Molly.’
Mr Mortensen added: ‘Every time we’re in the public sight, it raises awareness for people to get out there and do something to help wildlife and become involved.
‘We want to try and get as many people involved as we possibly can in helping wildlife, because there aren’t a great deal of wildlife carers out there.’
Daily Mail has contact the couple for comment.