I feel sorry for the birds: the German public stood up for the “air rats” sentenced to death

“On June 9, the residents of Limburg will decide what to do with the pigeon population in the central part of the city,” informs the city portal limburg.de. “You will have the opportunity to choose one of two options: you agree with the initiative of pigeon defenders, according to which the reduction of the number of “by killing, as provided for by the decision of the municipal assembly, is not carried out, or you confirm the decision of the Limburg authorities, according to which a falconer can be brought in for the killing. On June 9, elections to the European Parliament and elections to the Landrat will take place simultaneously.”

Here, of course, there is no way to do without at least a brief summary of the “previous episodes”. Limburg is a small town (population is 36 thousand inhabitants), but very ancient (founded in the 10th century) and venerable. With a lot of attractions befitting its age: a castle, a fortress, cathedrals, the old town… Not to say that it is a tourist Mecca, but it is not at all deprived of the attention of travelers. However, the path to further growth in the attractiveness of the city – and, accordingly, to increased prosperity – turned out to be blocked by pigeons: the birds of Limburg were thoroughly covered… In general, they made a mess.

Of course, not only Limburg, but also other cities in Germany are faced with this problem. Here is a typical description of this disaster in the German press (in this case we are talking about Hannover): “They are everywhere: sitting on ledges and cornices, fluttering over the heads of passersby. Pigeon plague in the city. In the underground passages near the main station, things are completely disgusting: pedestrians have to slalom to avoid getting into trouble. The sidewalks are full of pigeon droppings. You can barely stand the dirt and stench.”

And here is the bitter news from Bremen, where pigeons have occupied not only the streets, but even luxury shopping arcades, driving entrepreneurs to despair: “Pigeon droppings are everywhere – on shop windows, on walls, on cafe tables and chairs. And this is despite repeated daily cleaning … The city center looks like a huge pigeon toilet.”

But Limburg went further than the cities – comrades in misfortune – in the fight against the unruly “air rats”, as pigeons are increasingly called in Germany. At first, city authorities introduced a ban on feeding them. But, apparently, the measure did not have the desired effect: either the ban was not too strict, or the insidious birds found an alternative source of food.

The next leg of the “warpath” was a pigeon census, conducted early last year with the help of volunteers. “The census is necessary to determine the size of the population and take further measures if necessary,” the city portal reported at the time.

The census takers then counted only 272 pigeons, but, of course, they didn’t count all of them. Using the extrapolation method, the total number of urban pigeons was determined to be 700-1000. “It will be too much,” the city fathers decided. And they decided to take extreme measures. The essence of the decision of the Limburg parliament, adopted in November last year, in general, has already been said above. Let us only add that to solve the pigeon issue, it is planned to build a special dovecote where the birds will be lured with food. This will become the “death chamber”.

A person specially hired by the city for this, a falconer, will first stun – with a blow to the head – the birds that recklessly fly into the trap, and then wring their necks. The city authorities assure us that there is no talk of complete extermination of the pigeon population. Yes, this would be impossible with the chosen method. The task is only to slightly reduce the number of “flying rats”.

But, according to opponents of the city authorities from among environmental activists, this does not go into any way. As one newspaper wittily put it, “the dispute over pigeon shit has escalated into a shitstorm” (the most adequate Russian translation of this English word, which has entered many languages, is “srach”).

Environmental activists from all over the country rose to the defense of Limburg pigeons, without mincing words. The event, started by local authorities, was branded by animal rights activists as a “mass murder”, and the city fathers themselves, accordingly, as a “gang of murderers”. The collection of signatures for holding a referendum on the issue of “pigeon execution” has begun in Limburg. And, as we see, in the end the fathers wavered: they agreed to an all-Limburg vote.

If the decision is overturned, city authorities will have to adopt other, more humane methods that do not raise objections from animal rights activists to reduce pigeon flocks. Such, for example, as the “Augsburg model,” which has recently become quite widespread in Germany.

The method consists, firstly, in the construction of dovecotes, where the birds will be properly cared for – feeding, etc. The “catch” is that the eggs laid by the females are exchanged for dummies made of plaster or plastic. The pigeons do not notice the replacement, continue to sit on the clutch, but the offspring do not hatch.

The price of this ingenious humanism, of course, is not small, but in such cases in Germany today it is not customary to stand behind the price. There would be a result. However, the results so far are also, to put it mildly, so-so. Even supporters of the “Augsburg model” admit that its use did not produce a noticeable effect. True, they themselves explain this by the insufficient prevalence of the method, by the fact that there are still too few such decoy pigeons.

The authorities also have one more method in their arsenal. This year, Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse, plans to launch a pilot project to sterilize male pigeons. This method has already been tested in Düsseldorf and is reported to have given good results. However, it is not a fact that animal rights activists will approve of this. We can say in advance that this “knackery” will also have many critics.

If you look from our Palestines, this “apophygey” of humanism evokes twofold feelings. The first thought that comes to mind: they have nothing else to do, they’re freaking out! Problem for me too. Here, one region after another makes a decision to kill stray dogs (similar laws have been approved in Buryatia, Tyva, Chukotka, Trans-Baikal, Altai Territories, Astrakhan and Magadan regions) – and nothing. No one is calling for barricades or even initiating referendums. Everything is orderly, noble, calm.

In a word, what is good for a Russian is good for a German…But another thought also flashes: is it really so good for a Russian? The treatment of animals is at the same time an indicator of attitude towards people, an indicator of the value of human life. And judging by this criterion, at least by this, we really still have room to grow here.