Domino Day 2005 sparrow
Encyclopedia
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the House Sparrow occurs naturally in most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia...
, Passer domesticus, that was shot and killed by a hunter from the company Duke Faunabeheer in the Frisian Expo Centre in Leeuwarden, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
during the preparations of Domino Day 2005
Domino Day
Domino Day was a world record attempt for the highest number of toppling domino stones, organized from 1998-2009 by Endemol Netherlands. Together with Weijers Domino Productions of Robin Paul Weijers, also known as Mr. Domino, parties teamed up to set a new world record...
on 14 November 2005. With only four days to go until Domino Day 2005, the bird flew into the building and landed on several domino bricks, eventually causing 23,000 of them (out of 4 million) to fall. Because of the protective gaps that were placed between groups of bricks, the damage was limited. Faunabeheer was hired to remove the unwanted intruder from the centre. After trying to capture the sparrow with nets and sticks, the company decided to shoot the bird.
The Dierenbescherming, a large animal protection organisation, went to court against Faunabeheer and the production company Endemol
Endemol
Endemol is an international television production and distribution company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland,...
for their actions against the domino sparrow. The public prosecutor fined the shooter 200 euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s for illegally killing an animal belonging to a protected species. The sparrow was inside the domino day area for a whole 8 hours before they brought the man in the next morning to kill the bird.
After several Dutch newspapers and television stations announced what had happened in the Frisian Expo Centre, several animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
organisations, popular blogs like GeenStijl.nl
GeenStijl.nl
GeenStijl.nl is a Dutch blog founded on April 10, 2003. The logos it uses on its website are a female silhouette using a chainsaw and a crown within a circle, both in a pinkish colour, although the crown in a circle is green with a black edge when it is embedded in online videos...
and radio DJs like Ruud de Wild
Ruud de Wild
Rudolf Alexander de Wild is a Dutch radio host. He is also a former DJ, VJ and was one of the faces of the now-defunct television network Talpa....
devoted time and attention to the subject. They claimed that killing an animal in order to save a television show is a low deed, and accused the shooter of having no respect for animal life. Ruud de Wild said that he was willing to give a €3,000 reward to anyone who topples the dominoes before the start of the event. However, nobody was able to do this since the security around the Frisian Expo Centre tightened following the sparrow incident and death threats against Faunabeheer, SBS Broadcasting, and Endemol.
A month after the sparrow's death, the Dutch Public Prosecutor handed the bird over to the Natuurhistorisch Museum
Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam
The ' is a natural history museum at Museumpark in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.The museum is located in the Villa Dijkzigt, dating from 1852 and extended in 1995 with a modern glazed pavilion which was designed by the Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat. Villa Dijkzigt was originally built by J. F...
in Rotterdam, as requested by its curator Kees Moeliker. The museum displayed the bird in an exhibition on the House Sparrow from November 2006 until May 2007.