COVENTRY, R.I. - A Wal-Mart employee accused the Coventry store of animal cruelty after she said management hired someone to shoot birds that fly into the building.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, works part time at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Coventry. She said she's seen it happen three times in the two years she's been working there.
"It's inhumane for them to kill these birds the way they're doing it," the woman said.

The store manager told NBC 10 that an outside contractor was hired to eliminate a problem with birds, but did not confirm if the birds were shot.

The employee said she felt compelled to draw attention to the way the giant retailer gets rid of birds that fly into its store.

"They actually have a gentleman come into the store and shoot them down with a BB gun," she said. "They are putting them to their death."

NBC 10 tried to contact the company that Wal-Mart said it uses to eliminate the birds but did not get a response.

The employee said she and other associates at the store have voiced their concerns to management.

"They said they're trying to do everything, and we feel that they're not doing enough," she said.

Jami Lamontagne, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, issued a statement that said in part, "We do our best to remove animals from our stores in a safe and timely manner. With 127 million customers coming through our door each week, our doors are opened frequently and sometimes a bird might happen to fly in."

Lamontagne continued to say that, "Wal-Mart strives to comply with all rules and regulations regarding animal treatment and will attempt to humanely shoo the birds back out the doors."
Dennis Tabella of the Defenders of Animals called for people to boycott Wal-Mart during the holidays because of its treatment of the birds.

"We think it's dangerous," he said. "We think there are many other humane alternatives that the store could be using to chase away the birds."
The employee agreed.

"If they could get some kind of netting system or anything," she said.