The RSPCA is trying to trace the owners of a flock of fancy pigeons which were recently dumped in a car park in Washington.
Four of the birds - who appear to be trumpeter pigeons with distinctive feathered feet - are now in the care of a Sunderland-based rescue, after they were abandoned in a car park in Horsley Road on Sunday.
It is said that the birds were placed inside a cardboard microwave box which was taped up across the top, before being left. The pigeons were then discovered at 2.45pm the same day by passing members of the public.
