‘The Pigeon Man’ Carries the Day : Torrance Allows Bird Lover to Keep 75 Racers at Home

Paul (The Pigeon Man) Woehlcke won a battle this week that left him on the outs with his neighbors, but he says it’s worth it because he can continue the hobby he rediscovered a year ago.

Woehlcke keeps 75 racing pigeons in a back-yard coop at his south Torrance home. Day in and day out, Woehlcke and his 8-year-old daughter, Katrina, feed the birds, care for the chicks and clean the cages. They are his favorite pastime.

The pigeons, however, have ruffled the feathers of many neighbors who say the noise, odors and droppings from the birds have created a nuisance in their quiet, middle-class neighborhood.

Pigeon Defense

On Tuesday night, when the great pigeon dispute came before the City Council, Woehlcke adamantly defended his pigeons, saying they make very little noise and are kept in clean cages that are tended daily. He said he lets the birds out twice a day--half the flock at a time--but insists that they cannot be blamed for all the neighborhood bird droppings.

After listening to nearly an hour of testimony from Woehlcke and his neighbors, the City Council voted 4 to 3 to give Woehlcke the special permit he needs to keep his birds.

“I’m elated,” Woehlcke said after the decision was made. “I was the underdog, but the council listened to the facts and made their decision.”

Twenty-four of his neighbors--many of whom dubbed Woehlcke “the pigeon man”--signed a petition asking the city to deny Woehlcke’s request for the special permit needed to keep the birds.

Several neighbors seemed displeased as they hurried from the council chambers after the decision. One woman who spoke out against the birds turned to Woehlcke as she walked past and said: “I hope you are going to clean your pigeons’ droppings off my driveway.”

Some council members said their decisions were influenced by a visit to Woehlcke’s pigeon coop on Courtney Way and the neighborhood.

Councilman Mark Wirth, who voted to allow the special permit, said he walked around Woehlcke’s neighborhood and “didn’t see anything that looked any different from any other neighborhood.”

Mayor Katy Geissert, who also voted for the permit but expressed concern that the number of pigeons be kept under 80, said she visited the coop and found it to be clean. Councilmen Dan Walker and Tim Mock also voted for the permit.

Councilmen Bill Applegate and George Nakano opposed the permit, saying they sympathized with the neighbors. “The question I ask myself is: ‘Would I want to live next to this?’ ” Applegate said. “The answer is no.” Councilwoman Dee Hardison added the third opposing vote.

Special Permit

Under a city law passed in February, residents need a special permit to keep more than four pigeons. Woehlcke, who began his hobby with two pigeons last July, applied for the permit in March. His application was rejected last month by the Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission, and he appealed that decision to the council.

Six neighbors who attended the council meeting to speak out against Woehlcke’s birds said the pigeons are an annoyance and a potential health hazard.

“God knows what kind of diseases these little rascals pick up from hundreds of miles away and bring into our neighborhood,” said Ken Kustra, who lives near Woehlcke.

Terry Irvine, whose back yard adjoins Woehlcke’s, said: “We just don’t feel that a hobby such as Mr. Woehlcke’s is appropriate for our neighborhood.”

Cat Died

Irvine had previously told city officials that her cat was put to sleep last August after being stricken with cryptococcus, a rare disease that can be contracted by inhaling the dust of dried pigeon droppings.

Woehlcke told the council it is unlikely that his pigeons are to blame for the cat’s death. To support his point, Woehlcke had submitted letters from biologists and veterinarians saying that cryptococcus can also be gotten from other types of bird droppings and has been found in wasps’ nests, on grass, in bodies of insects, in butter and in canned milk.

Not all of Woehlcke’s neighbors were against the pigeons.

Barry Dunbridge, who lives next door to Woehlcke, said he is not bothered by the birds. “I see no perceived increase of droppings on my property or in my pool,” he told the council.

Woehlcke, who has lived in the neighborhood for 14 years, said in an interview at his home that he first became interested in pigeon racing more than 25 years ago when he was a teen-ager in Westchester, where it seemed “everyone in the neighborhood kept pigeons.”

Woehlcke gave up racing pigeons for many years, but reclaimed his hobby last year, when a friend offered him two young pigeons. Since then, friends have given him more pigeons, he’s bought others and some have mated. Woehlcke and Katrina spend about two hours a day taking care of the birds.

Engrossing Hobby

Pigeon racing is a unique and engrossing hobby, he said.

The night before a race, club members take the pigeons to their clubhouse, where numbered elastic racing bands are placed on the birds’ legs and the numbers are recorded on an entry sheet. The pigeons are transported by truck to a release point 100 to 500 miles away, where they are set free the next morning.

The distance between the birds’ coops and the release point is surveyed in advance and races are scored by determining how many yards per minute each pigeon travels. Under favorable conditions, some birds can fly at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour, traveling in almost a straight line to their lofts.

Once the bird arrives at the loft, the owner takes the elastic band off and puts it into a special clock that records the time. The owner takes the clock to the clubhouse, where members of the club’s race committee open the instrument and determine the winners by computing the speeds traveled. Diplomas and trophies are accorded the owners of the fastest birds.

Woehlcke pointed out that racing pigeons are not the same birds found flying around parks and statues. Racing pigeons are specially bred for speed and endurance, said Woehlcke, who added that he has paid as much as $2,000 for one pigeon.

Woehlcke said he is not sure why he enjoys pigeons, except that they are “amazing to watch.”

“I have 75 pigeons but every one is different,” he said. “Each one has a personality.”