Molly the magpie and staffy Peggy are set to be reunited once again but only if their owners agree to certain conditions.
Molly the magpie and Staffordshire bull terriers Peggy and Ruby are best friends – particularly Molly and Peggy, whose story first touched the hearts of social media users in 2020.
Images and videos of the pair have been consistently shared onto Instagram by their owners – Gold Coast, Queensland couple Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen, who rescued Molly after she fell from a nest.
Molly the magpie and Peggy the staffy are best friends. (Instagram/@peggyandmolly)
However, Molly and Peggy’s friendship ended up at risk of being shattered and their whole family torn apart after complaints were made to the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI).
The complaints led to the family handing over Molly in March earlier this year, but Peggy nor the rest of their family – or social media users who’ve followed their journey online – were giving up on the small bird that easily.
Thankfully, the campaigning saw Wells and Mortensen meet with DESI’s Director-General and the Queensland premier Steven Miles who shared on April 9 Molly ‘can come home very soon’ however, it’s since been revealed there are certain conditions surrounding the bird’s release.
DESI released details surrounding the conditions of Molly’s return via the Queensland Government’s website earlier today (April 11).
It explains it received independent expert veterinary advice which said Molly is very used to her home with Peggy and the rest of the family and has ‘developmental issues’ which mean it wouldn’t ever be possible to return her to the wild or place her in different care anyway.
However, it adds: “Molly’s return hinges on the family applying for a licence and agreeing with a range of conditions that will ensure the best outcome for the animal’s ongoing health and wellbeing.”
DESI has agreed Molly can return home but under strict conditions. (Instagram/@peggyandmolly)
DESI says it’s working with Wells and Mortensen to ‘ensure they have the appropriate license and training to properly home the magpie’ such as ‘undertaking wildlife carer training’ and ‘ongoing engagement with DESI to ensure the bird is receiving adequate care and enrichment’.
The department also set extra conditions too such as the pair ‘advocating public education to encourage people to appropriately care for native wildlife and acknowledging the specialist skills required to care for and rehabilitate wildlife’ and also not being able to make any ‘ongoing commercial gain from the bird or its image’.
Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but with Molly and Peggy becoming a viral hit, the couple announced their first book just 20 weeks ago titled Peggy & Molly alongside calendars available on the duo’s website.
DESI resolves: “Once the individuals have demonstrated that they can and will meet the conditions, Molly will be placed with its former carers.”