A woman has been arrested after she cruelly tried to wring a seagull’s neck in Portugal.

This bizarre footage filmed moments earlier shows her bopping along to music next to the River Tagus in Lisbon with the seemingly limp gull in her hands.

The woman – a Dutch national – was also seen putting the bird into a suitcase before the apparent attempt on its life.

The animal protection NGO Intervencao e Resgate Animal (Animal Intervention and Rescue) took to social media to write that the woman “took the seagull out of her suitcase in the middle of the street, grabbed it by the neck and, in front of passers-by and three agents from the 3rd squad of the Public Security Police, tried to twist its neck”.

Some onlookers who had been amused by the woman’s previous antics then “intervened to help the bird, stopping the attack”, the NGO revealed.

Police swiftly arrested the woman and the bird was handed to the NGO, which then delivered it to a veterinary centre.

The seagull remains under observation but its prognosis is poor, the NGO said.

The woman, who was reportedly in a “confused state” was collected by an ambulance.

Her identity has been withheld and it is not clear if she has been charged with a crime.

Animal-loving Portugal notably has an animal welfare-focused political party – People Animals Nature – with a seat in parliament.