The media maligns pigeons, regarding them as fodder for peregrine falcons. They have conveniently forgotten that pigeons risked their lives for us in wartime. See video about pigeon hero, Cher Ami, later in this update, in paragraph 6.
Today, pigeons are kicked and chased in parks, while other birds are fed.
Why?
Pigeon abuse is considered “a normal part of life” by some authorities. This is disgraceful.
My MP agrees that pigeon abuse is cruel and unnecessary. I’ve asked her to help outlaw this abuse and give these beautiful birds protection under the law. Please contact your own MP. Only a change in the law can stop this abuse.
Please share my Petition link, and the link to the song, “Please be Nice to Pigeons” with your MP, family and friends. I still need more signatures, so that this petition can achieve success.
The link below can copied into your browser.
Join in with the song, “Please be Nice to Pigeons”.
The link to the song, which can be copied into a browser, is below:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWbqyExGnGk
Share the song with family and friends. There is no need to persecute pigeons. They’ve done nothing wrong!
Pigeons helped the allies win WW1 and WW2. They served alongside the armed forces in both World Wars, saving thousands of human lives by carrying messages, when all other communication had failed.
Encouraging children to be kind to pigeons, and all creatures, is so important, in the early years of life to cancel the “culture of cruelty” and “acceptance of abuse”.
I have asked my MP to remind the Prime Minister to acknowledge receipt of our petition, submitted on 21 September, and to act.
In our Nation everyone should be able to visit parks and public places without any possibility of seeing abuse - particularly pigeon abuse. How will that be achieved? Pigeon abuse cannot currently be safely challenged or stopped. Challenging it is risky. The 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 could stop the abuse.
Will your MP help?
Pigeon abuse must never be considered “normal”.
The concept of Pigeon houses
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 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 gardeners and organic farmers today. Pigeon houses could be a practical solution today. Pigeon houses, like insect hotels, could give pigeons a whole new status in life, as providers of organic fertiliser.
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 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 very 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 Parliament 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 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.
3. Sign and share my petition. The link is below:-
4. Sing the song, “Please be Nice to Pigeons”:-
Share it with children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWbqyExGnGk
5. Suggest that your MP protect pigeons, effectively and specifically, under the new Animal Welfare Sentience laws and Action Plan for Animal Welfare, at:-
writetothem.com
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.
60 animals received the Dickin Medal, including 18 dogs, three horses and one cat. But pigeons 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 “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 is beautifully illustrated and presented.
8. The Royal British Legion could honour pigeons’ heroic wartime role, 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
9. Ask local schools and colleges to teach kindness to pigeons.
Pigeons are heroes of war who helped to save our nation. Pigeons’ lives matter!
“Surely pigeons are not abused - not in the U.K….”
Let’s break the silence on this abuse.
Thank you.