Although no solutions have been attempted, the debate continues over how to address the pigeon problem in Coalton, with PETA now joining the conversation.
In a letter dated Oct. 14, Jodi Minion, a wildlife biologist for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), urged the village to pursue alternative methods of eradicating the pigeons to the ones agreed upon by the village council during previous meetings. The council had decided that, in lieu of utilizing a poisoning system as Jackson did several years ago, they would use a trap to catch the pigeons and then exterminate them.
Although that plan has yet to be executed, some citizens who were dissatisfied by the village’s proposed solution contacted PETA, who promptly contacted the village. In her letter, Minion discouraged the village from trapping, relocating, or killing the birds. “‘Getting rid of’ existing pigeons, no matter the method, will backfire,” she wrote. “It creates a massive spike in the food supply. This prompts accelerated breeding among pigeons who inevitably move in from surrounding areas to occupy available niches. You will have a population explosion and a vicious killing cycle in which many animals suffer needlessly.” Instead, PETA recommends that the village invest in bird coils and bird spikes to deter pigeons from roosting and clear away any garbage that might attract pigeons or other nuisance animals. Furthermore, Stephanie Bell, Associate Director of PETA’s Emergency Response Team, emphasized that PETA “strongly disagrees with wildlife feeding of any kind, including song birds.” She added that it is imperative for the village to enact and strictly enforce no-feeding ordinances to prevent citizens from exacerbating the problem.
Bell said that she is “heartened” by the village’s openness to pursuing more “humane methods” of handling the situation. During the Monday, Nov. 1 meeting of the village council, Mayor Frank Doenges referred to the pigeons as an “ongoing problem” and implied that he and village officials would continue to explore their options in dealing with them.
Source: Times Journal
