Beginning January 20th, the University of Winnipeg intends to begin poisoning pigeons with Avitrol - a lethal poison that causes excruciating pain and death. In its announcement, the university stated that the poison is a "scaring agent" as it causes sustained and violent spasms, sentencing birds to agonizingly painful deaths that can last more than four hours.

Avitrol is an indiscriminate killer and hazardous to non-target species such as the endangered peregrine falcons who nest just blocks away and for whom pigeons are a primary food source.

Avitrol has been banned in a number of Canadian cities because it is hazardous to both humans and domestic animals and poses a risk of water contamination.

Many non-lethal strategies to limit pigeon populations are available. There is no reason for the University of Winnipeg to sentence pigeons and other species to such grizzly deaths.