Feathered friends (From Oxford Mail)

Feathered friends

10:00am Monday 30th August 2010 in Letters

I WRITE in response to Audrey Saunders (Oxford Mail, August 19), complaining about the pigeons in Bonn Square.

She claims that the ground becomes very slippery when it rains, ‘due to pigeon poo’.

Why can’t people live and let live?

The pigeons provide a valuable service in disposing of food discarded by those who frequent McDonalds, Burger King and other such establishments.

This perpetual war on wildlife of every description by members of the real pest species, is the height of hypocrisy.

I wonder if Mrs Saunders has ever questioned what happens to her sewage when it leaves her premises?

Presumably she drives a vehicle that belches noxious fumes into the atmosphere. How many air miles per annum is she responsible for? How much garbage does she throw away each week?

The environmental impact of one human being is many million times that of the humble pigeon, but the council uses my council tax to hire a firm of killers who regularly slaughter birds under cover of darkness.

Even the Church has no compunction about having pigeons killed – so much for ‘all creatures great and small’.

Of course, there are humane alternatives to such cruelty.

One company, for instance, specialises in installing nests where the eggs can be removed and replaced by china or plastic eggs. However, if people really wish to control the numbers of any species, perhaps they should start with their own.

Let’s introduce punitive measures to discourage those who breed irresponsibly.

PETER LANGLEY, Windmill Road, Headington, Oxford