Imformed Opinions on Today’s Topics : A Better Way Sought to Deal With Pigeons

Despite a unanimous vote Tuesday by the Glendale City Council to contract with Los Angeles County to trap and kill pigeons that merchants claim have been dirtying the city’s downtown business district, council members have announced they will investigate more humane methods of reducing the bird population. The decision comes in the wake of public criticism of Tuesday’s vote and the disclosure that one of the county’s extermination methods involves attaching bags of pigeons to car exhaust pipes. Residents and animal-rights activists argued that non-lethal alternatives exist to control the growing number of birds.

According to one national animal-welfare organization, extermination is largely ineffective as a means of controlling populations, although many cities in the United States still trap and kill pigeons.

Should communities attempt to reduce their pigeon populations by killing the birds?

Michael Peatrowsky, director of the Glendale Humane Society:

“If (the pigeons) have an unending food supply, they will continue to multiply at an unnatural rate. It is not against the law for (the city) to pass an ordinance that would stop people from feeding them. . . . (Droppings) show up more now because of all the glass (in the business district). They’ve got those big glass globes and they’re covered. It looks terrible. The face of downtown has changed and there are all kinds of places for them to roost. . . . I’d really like to see them try alternative methods before they decide to euthanize them. They need to encourage people not to feed them.”

Penny Scott, director of Balboa Park in San Diego, where the pigeon population was reduced about eight years ago by mixing bird feed with a birth-control substance:

“You don’t need to (kill them). Birth control in the seed doesn’t hurt the birds. It was very effective and we could probably do it again. It was very humane. We never would have considered (killing them). . . . We just felt that the most humane solution was birth control. It takes care of the problem and it doesn’t hurt the birds. It just means the eggs don’t mature and you don’t have the babies. We don’t want to eliminate the pigeons. We just want to have them in acceptable amounts.”

Leslie Gerstenfeld-Press, biologist for Washington D.C.-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:

“There are better solutions. Fortunately, that’s what (Glendale) is considering. More and more major metropolitan cities are realizing that (killing) is not an acceptable approach. Unfortunately, there are still cities that trap and kill pigeons. It’s becoming less acceptable and it’s becoming obvious to people that it’s not an effective solution. The only way to control the pigeon population is to reduce the ‘carrying capacity’ of the environment--that’s the amount of food, shelter and breeding sites available to them in an environment. The way you reduce the carrying capacity is you look at where they get their food from. Pigeon feeders are not doing them a favor. . . . The claim is that they’re a health problem and they’re really not. They’re an aesthetic problem.”

Patrick Liddell, president of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce:

“The pigeon population is a significant problem for the retailers. It’s the excrement and the damage they do to storefronts and the awnings. One of the best means to advertise your business is an awning and the pigeons are just ruining the awnings and the ledges in the front of the stores. They seem to congregate (downtown) because of the restaurants. It is a big problem and we’ve asked the city to do something about it. I have no interest in clubbing pigeons over the head or tying them to exhaust pipes, but we have to have a program that addresses this situation. I think the City Council has acknowledged that this is an issue with the public because of the outcry.”