A NAIL has been driven through the head of magpie in a violent animal cruelty case that has shocked veterinary workers at Jimboomba.
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The bird, which was brought to the Jimboomba Veterinary Surgery on Thursday morning, had to be put down as a result of its injuries.
The nail had passed through the bird's eye socket and broken its beak.
Jimboomba vet Doctor Paul McMahon, who attended to the animal, said it never stood a chance of recovery.
"We were just shocked," he said.
"This was an incredibly cruel act."
The death of the magpie is the third animal cruelty case to have occurred in Jimboomba recently, just one week after the Times reported a magpie and kangaroos were shot with arrows.
Dr McMahon said it appeared as though a nail gun was used to kill the magpie.
"The way the nail has gone in, it looks as though a (nail) gun has been held to the head of the bird to kill it," he said.
"I don't know why somebody would do that."
A concerned resident found the bird trying to fly on Edelsten Road on the Thursday morning.
After seeing the nail, they drove the magpie straight to the veterinary clinic.
"The person who brought the bird in was very upset by it all," Dr McMahon said.
"It was pretty gruesome."
The case has been reported to the RSPCA.