Renee Solomon, a 61-year-old professor at Columbia University, was arrested in her office by five armed officers, handcuffed and jailed for four hours in New York. She was accused of killing sparrows that had perched on the ledge outside her apartment in Manhattan.

The birds died after an exterminator applied a sticky repellent to ward off hundreds of pigeons visiting her neighborhood's bird feeders. New York Newsday reported that Solomon had contacted the city's Health Department after her neighbor refused to move the feeders, but that she said the department told her staff cuts prevented it from sending someone to her home. She then turned to her landlord.

The exterminator sent by her landlord laid down a repellent called Roost No More on her windowsill. Later, the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals received calls that small birds were dying at Solomon's window and notified Solomon that she was using an illegal substance on her sill.

At one point, Solomon told Newsday, ASPCA officer Jose Hernandez even entered her apartment without permission when she was out of town, in order to check up on the repellent. Soon after, two ASPCA officers and three police officers arrested Solomon. She was charged with violating state law by killing the birds—a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. The charges were later dismissed for lack of merit. Solomon has since filed a $4 million civil lawsuit against the ASPCA.

Solomon belongs to both the Audubon Society and the Sierra Club. "I'm a bird lover," she told the newspaper.

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