Pepe the Peacock is currently being housed at the Westfield Animal Shelter until his owner can pick him up.
WESTFIELD- A month-long hunt ended on Wednesday when Animal Control was able to capture the elusive peacock that had been missing in the city.
Westfield’s Animal Control had been receiving calls about a peacock roaming around the area near Home Depot for the better part of a month.
On Wednesday, they announced on the Westfield Reginal Animal Shelter Facebook Page that he had been caught by Animal Control Officer Spenser Afonso. She was searching in the area where the peacock was last spotted when she sighted him on Miller Street, apparently peeping into the windows of a house.
She received a call the night before from someone who claimed their neighbor was feeding the bird.
Pepe the Peacock, as he has been named by members of Animal Control, did not go quietly into the night. He took the officers on an hour-long foot chase for which they were at a disadvantage. Unlike chickens, who have wings but cannot fly, peacocks can fly, and Pepe did so to avoid capture at the hands of animal control. Afonso had to call in backup.
After being chased through neighborhoods, the dike, and the woods, Pepe was finally netted and brought to the Animal Shelter.
Animal Shelter Director Lori Charrette said that they are fairly certain who’s peacock it is. She could not disclose the suspected owner’s name.
Peacocks are not native to the New England climate, but they are frequently found on farms in the area.
Pepe is currently being held at the animal shelter while they await word from his owner.
Charette said that this is the first time that she has had a peacock interred in the shelter.
“We’re googling stuff on peacocks because we don’t know,” said Charrette. She said that they eat a similar diet to the average New England bird.
Peter Currier can be reached at [email protected].
