First there was New York City’s pizza rat. Now there’s the pizza pigeons of Sydney.

In a now-viral TikTok video, the birds were caught on camera feasting on ingredients at a popular chain in Australia—much to the horror of customers.

The post was shared to social media on Monday morning and has since garnered over 46,000 likes, as well as a flurry of comments—naturally. In the video, three pigeons were captured chowing down on pizza toppings at Crust in Sydney’s Lower North Shore, The New York Post reports. Staffers were seemingly not present during the debacle.

While Americans might be unfamiliar with Crust, it’s actually the third largest pizza chain in Australia with 136 franchises.

Viewers quickly vowed to “never” eat at the chain again. “Someone’s getting fired 😂,” one user joked, while another added, “Yeah won’t be going there.”

“This was on the news tonight 😂😂😂,” another TikToker later updated in the comments.

So…what happened? Where were the employees? And what is Crust doing about the controversy? A spokesperson for the chain told The Daily Mail that the store’s front door was left open while they were working in the back.

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@charlesspalton / TikTok

“The door was left open accidentally, and the pigeon just flew in straight away,” they told the outlet. “That was an unfortunate day… since the incident has happened, we have taken some precautions so it won’t happen again.”

Staffers have been advised to keep the doors closed and to cover topping containers with lids, as well.

They also added that “all appropriate operational procedures were immediately implemented,” including the “disposal of all food items, deep cleaning the area, full store commercial clean and pest control.”

“A comprehensive Food Standards Review has also been conducted, and operational best practice reinforced across the network of Crust stores to mitigate any future unexpected visitation,” the spokesperson said. “Now equipped with an electrical bird deterrent device, we can confirm that the store is once again open for business, creating the most delicious and Crust-worthy pizzas on the market.”

Headshot of Megan Schaltegger

Megan Schaltegger is an NYC-based writer. She loves strong coffee, eating her way through the Manhattan food scene, and her dog, Murray. She promises not to talk about herself in third person IRL.


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