Everyone should be able to visit parks and public places without any possibility of seeing abuse there - particularly pigeon abuse. How will that be achieved?
Pigeon abuse cannot be safely challenged or stopped. Challenging it is dangerous.
Pigeon abuse never used to happen. It has resulted from denigration of pigeons by the media and pest control companies, for profit.
Perhaps cameras in parks and public places are needed to stop the abuse.
Will your MP listen?
Will they help?
Pigeon abuse should never be considered “normal”.
Could pigeon houses be the answer?
Today, pigeons are homeless, and roam streets and parks looking for food and shelter, but for thousands of years they lived in pigeon houses, built especially for them in towns and villages. These were similar to dovecotes, and provided pigeons with a home, a safe refuge and somewhere to live, sleep, socialise and be fed.
Pigeon houses today would protect pigeons, give them somewhere to go, save them having to take refuge in buildings, balconies, in streets or elsewhere, where some people object to them. Pigeon houses, like insect hotels, could give pigeons a whole new status!
Pigeon houses were guarded in the past, because pigeon droppings were a very valuable resource. Pigeon guano was used to make gunpowder and fertiliser. It is still highly prized by organic farmers today.
Pigeon houses could be a very practical solution.
“Surely pigeons are not abused! Not today - not in Great Britain…..”
Let’s join with The Prime Minister, in his appeal to Parliament, on Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January 2021, to -
“Fight against all forms of hatred and prejudice, wherever they are found!”
1.The government needs to -
- Recognise pigeons as Sentient Beings, and give them full, specific protection under the government’s new Animal Welfare Sentience laws and Action Plan for Animal Welfare.
Action - The Prime Minister and MPs in Parliament.
Prince William and Kate launched The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood to “drive awareness of, and action on, the extraordinary impact of the early years, changing what we think and do on early childhood, in order to transform society for generations to come.”
The website link is: royalfoundation.com
They surely had pigeons in mind, when they set up the Royal Foundation Centre! Ask the Royal Foundation Centre to teach children to be kind to pigeons. No child should be taught to hate! What we teach children in the early years stays with them. The early years are so important. Contact - royalfoundation.com
Action - The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood
2. Ask the Prime Minister to respond to our petition, and keep his promise, made on Holocaust Memorial Day, to the House of Commons, to “fight against ALL forms of hatred and prejudice, wherever they are found”, by outlawing pigeon abuse and giving pigeons full and specific protection under the law. Draft letter is below.
Dear Prime Minister
Please respond to our petition to “Stop the Abuse of Pigeons in Parks, gardens and streets and protect pigeons by law”, sent to you on 21 September. We need your reply, because we are trying to fight against hatred and prejudice, too!
Please keep your promise, made to the House of Commons on Holocaust Memorial Day, to “fight against all forms of hatred and prejudice, wherever they are found” by outlawing and stopping pigeon abuse in parks and public places, and giving pigeons full, specific protection under the Animal Welfare Sentience laws and Action Plan for Animal Welfare. This is urgent, to save anyone else being injured or abused, if they try to defend pigeons from abuse!
Please reply to the 10,706 people who have signed this petition. We need you to act. Pigeon abuse is speciesism. Like all abuse, it damages our way of life. It is not acceptable for this to continue in the U.K. today. It needs to stop.
3. Sign and share my petition. The link is below:-
4. Sing along to song, “Please be Nice to Pigeons”:-
Share it with your children and young people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWbqyExGnGk
5. Suggest that your MP vote to protect pigeons, effectively and specifically, under the Animal Welfare Sentience laws and Action Plan for Animal Welfare, at:-
writetothem.com
Saving thousands of lives in wartime, as messengers, pigeons are our unsung heroes of war. 32 pigeons won the PDSA Dickin Medal for their outstanding wartime service and sacrifice.
Wartime pigeons were carried on planes, ships and submarines and if a vessel came under attack, a pigeon would be sent out to seek help, with a message attached to its leg. Risking their own lives, and often wounded, pigeons saved the lives of stranded soldiers, sailors, airmen, and civilians. Trained to fly by night, they could reach speeds of a mile a minute. In Italy, Pigeon GI Joe flew with a message, which saved an entire town from being bombed.
Over 60 animals received the Dickin Medal, including 18 dogs, three horses and one cat. But pigeons still rule, with 32 being awarded medals, between 1943 and 1949.
6. See the video, at the link below, which describes how pigeon, Cher Ami, flew for miles, although seriously wounded, and saved hundreds of soldiers during WW1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s4O9C-GxiU
7. Read the book, “Pigeon Hero” by Shirley Raye Redmond, about pigeon GI Joe, who saved a whole town in Italy from being bombed, by flying with a message attached to his leg. This book, for children, is beautifully illustrated and presented.
8. Suggest to the Royal British Legion that they celebrate pigeons’ heroic wartime role, serving alongside the armed forces and saving thousands of human lives, in their Remembrance Commemorations. This would give pigeons a better public image, and help stop the cruelty towards them.
Contact - https://www.britishlegion.org.uk
Surely we can scale the the insidious “wall of silence” surrounding pigeon abuse!
Pigeons are our unsung heroes of war who helped to save our nation and win freedom from tyranny. Pigeons’ lives matter! We must not betray their trust!
Surely pigeons are not abused! Not today - not in the U.K.!
Thank you.