By: Mike Crooks
Key Points:
- It all started in September of 2020 when Juliette and Reece rescued a wild baby magpie which had fallen from its nest.
- The community was devastated when Molly had to be surrendered to authorities due to being held “unlawfully with no permit, licence or authority.”
- When Molly was returned home, Australia enjoyed the special moment, amidst a week of otherwise devastating news stories, with congratulations rolling in.
Molly the Magpie has been returned to the loving home where he was raised, on the Gold Coast. (Yes, Molly is a boy).
“We are overwhelmed with emotion right now,” Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen said in a Facebook announcement.
“It was a very exciting reunion at the Dept for us with a little cry of happiness from Molly. When we arrived home the Peggy & Ruby wiggly bottom were in full force and a few excited noises from Molly.
“We are so grateful to you our supporters, QLD Premier Steven Miles & the DESI for allowing us to get our licence & to be reunited with Molly again. We look forward to life settling back down to normal very soon.”
How it All Began
In case you haven’t been following the story, here’s a quick overview.
It all started in September of 2020 when Juliette and Reece rescued a wild baby magpie which had fallen from its nest.
“We were out for a walk during lockdown when we found a very young fledgling wandering around weak and alone,” they said. “We watched from the other side of the park for many hours but the magpies that were around were not going anywhere near this little bird who had either fallen from or was pushed out of the nest or just abandoned because he was sick.”
As an off-leash dog park, it wasn’t a safe environment for a young magpie to walk around unprotected, so they took him home to care for him, taking him back to the park for the next five days, in the hopes of finding his family, to no avail.
As the pair continued to care for Molly, he learned how to eat and fly, spending lots of time outdoors “because our goal was to get him back out into the wild,” they said.
Molly quickly bonded with the pair’s two dogs, Peggy and Ruby.
“What started out as cute moments we caught on camera phones quickly grew attention on social media because it made people happy during lockdown.”
The Peggy and Molly Community
1.2 million people now follow along with these furry adventures on the Facebook page Peggy and Molly – a community which was devastated when in March this year, Juliette and Reece had to surrender the now fully grown magpie to the Southern Wildlife Operations Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, on grounds of Molly being held “unlawfully with no permit, licence or authority,” a statement released by the department.
“We did everything in our power to work with the department including doing the training & getting a wildlife permit which Reece had to retract because of the conflict of interest because of our social media pages,” they said in a Facebook post.
Tributes began to pour in, of people sharing stories about how Molly, Peggy and Ruby had encouraged and inspired them.
“I was endlessly scrolling my phone, all I saw was negativity,” one follower said in a video tribute. So I kept scrolling and scrolling until I found Peggy & Molly. They made me smile! And showed me that… love conquers all.”
When Molly was returned home to Juliette and Reece, Australia enjoyed the special moment, amidst a week of otherwise devastating news stories, with comments rolling in:
“Thank goodness! Sense prevails enjoy your home coming celebrations take time to settle Molly back in – I bet Ruby & Peggy were beyond Happy Doggy Tail Waggers. so so happy for you Reece & Juliet” – Bridget Bicker
“God Bless! Molly Peggy Ruby and both of you! Hope Molly is fine, doing well, and all of you are happily together! Best News after a long long time!” – Suman Ghosh
“Goodness, such wonderful, wonderful news!! In a world otherwise so deprived of happy news, this has truly made my day” – M. C Ronen
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
All images: Facebook / Peggyandmolly
About the Author: Joni Boyd is a writer, based in the Hawkesbury Region of NSW. She is passionate about the power of stories shared, to transform lives.