A wild turkey that decided to make a home for himself in a suburban bedroom community in Camden County was euthanized Thursday after being confiscated from a farm Wednesday 43 miles away where he had been taken to live out his life.

The nearly 20-pound bird -- who locals in Haddon Heights had named Glenny, because it had frequently been spotted in the vicinity of the Glenwood Elementary School -- was killed after he was determined to be a “nuisance” wild animal, a federal wildlife official said Thursday.

“The turkey was captured and sent to the Funny Farm Rescue Animal Sanctuary after it was determined to be a local nuisance due to pecking at cars and blocking traffic,” Tanya Espinosa, a spokesperson for the federal Department of Agriculture said in an email. “In at least one instance, the police were called out to divert traffic for public safety. The turkey was humanely euthanized since it had been in contact with domestic birds and presented a disease risk to native wildlife.”

Espinosa said the Funny Farm animal sanctuary in Mays Landing is only a center for domestic farm animals.

“The wild turkey was placed with domestic fowl prior to being quarantined for disease,” Espinosa said.

Laurie Zaleski, the owner and founder of Funny Farm, said she cried after Glenny was confiscated Wednesday. She was not on the property at the time. A volunteer farmhand was.

“I thought it was ridiculous they took him,” Zaleski said. “We wanted him to live at the farm happily with 500 other brothers and sisters.”

She wasn’t the only one. A Facebook group had started around the wayward fowl and the locals were so worked up over his fate the borough council added a “wild turkey” agenda item in a recent meeting.

“He was anthropomorphized, made a social media star and a mascot for the town,” Councilwoman Asiyah Kurtz said Thursday. “It’s really sad. People should treat wild animals as wild animals. Don’t feed the wild turkeys.”

“Glenny Day” - CANCELLED The Funny Farm Rescue & Sanctuary was contacted over 2 weeks ago by several concerned... Posted by Funny Farm Rescue on Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Kurtz said the borough did not take any action to deal with Glenny. She said their animal control officer deals with domesticated animals.

“I hope people would not take this hubbub as a negative against the borough,” Kurtz said. “We’re doing as much as we can.”

Zaleski said neighbors in Haddon Heights had reached out to her because they knew of her rescue farm. She said her sister also lives in the borough and was familiar with the problem.

A wild turkey Haddon Heights residents called Glenny was euthanized Thursday by state and federal wildlife officials.

Zaleski said she reached out to wildlife officials near her farm in Atlantic County and felt she was would be able to capture Glenny and relocated him within 50 miles to her farm. She captured him last week. She even planned to have a celebration Sunday to welcome Glenny and invite Haddon Heights residents through social media to come visit him at his new home.

Instead, state and federal wildlife officials showed up first.

“I cared about animals,” Zaleski said. “That’s why I did it. I wanted to give him one little piece of happiness.”

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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