A pigeon was rescued by the authorities after having a 3-inch syringe needle rammed through the front of its skull and through the other side of the head.

The good thing is that the syringe did not kill the bird.

The bird was seen with the needle in its head in the Villa Reale Park, which is located in Monza, a city in the northern Italian region of Lombardy.

The pigeon managed to evade capture for 10 days.

Antonello Garbini and Anna Fossat, rescuers, and Said Beid captured the pigeon after a number of failed attempts.

Beid said:

I went to the park for several days and I noticed that there were two groups of pigeons that came down from the trees to eat at different times of the day.  I watched their habits by going there every day at 7 am, when the park opens. The pigeon with the needle in the head used to go down three times per day to feed, keeping a distance from the other group, maybe because it was scared, maybe to avoid somebody touching it. I worked calmly after passersby and other people understood what my “mission” was.  One afternoon I built two cages, I waited for the other animals to leave and when I saw my ‘friend’ going down from the tree I put some food in the cage and I managed to catch it.

Dardo, the pigeon, was brought to the Villoresi Veterinary Clinic in Monza for surgery so they could remove the syringe.

Beid said that the syringe did not damage the eye of the bird.

Authorities currently believe that someone jammed the needle into the skull of the pigeon.

Beid added:

What was done to this animal is absolute cruelty. The nine-centimetre (3.5-inch) needle touched its eye. Who knows what cruelties the person who does these things is doing to other animals in nature?

Valeria Pellegrino, the vet in charge, said that the pigeon arrived to them in a very critical but stable condition.

Pellegrino said:

A dart or needle stuck in its head which crossed from the frontal bone to the occipital bone.

A complicated surgery was carried out after an X-ray was done.

The pigeon has opened its eyes again and is doing well, confirmed the doctor.