Q. Last Shabbos there was a dying injured bird laying on the driveway entering our home. Since we had some guest coming including children and the display was bothersome and painful for children, I wonder if we were permitted to move the bird by collecting it on a cardboard and placing it where it could not be seen?
A. One is allowed to move a ‘Geref Shel Rei’ or a disgusting and loathsome item from a place one inhabits during Shabbos and it is not Muktze.
Regardless if a living item attains that state, one should not move the bird since it is likely that one will precipitate its death when moving it. One should rather just cover it with a heavy large bucket or container without touching it.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu Shlit’a