Pigeon Population Decline with OvoControl P

Pigeon population problems pooping out?
June 9, 2008

In today's This Week Ahead column, we catch up on what's happening in Hollywood--not with celebrities but with pigeons:

How have the efforts to shrink the pigeon population in Hollywood using birth control gone since announcing it last July?

Since August, some of the area's estimated 5,000 pigeons have been eating pill-shaped kibble known as OvoControl P from feeders on rooftops, making Hollywood the first area to try the contraceptive since it was given state approval in late July.

About 300 pigeons flock every morning at daybreak to eat up the contraceptive kibble, which contains nicarbazin, an ingredient that stops an egg from developing. OvoControl P has been registered with the state Department of Pesticide Regulation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and is approved by PETA and the Humane Society.

Laura Dodson, president of the Argyle Civic Assn., a neighborhood group leading the effort called Citizen Pigeon, said that they raised enough money from local businesses and residents -- over $50,000 -- to install five rooftop automatic feeders. They’ve also installed cameras to monitor the birds eating online.

After four months, the 438 pigeon regulars in one spot dropped to just below 40. Some through attrition, but pigeons are "just having less babies now," Dodson said.

The original date to reduce the pigeon population by 50% was 2012, but Dodson said that pest control and wildlife officials think it could happen within the next two years.

The pigeons are disliked in the area, currently under millions of dollars in renovation efforts, because of the messy droppings.

Italy, though, is taking a different approach on cracking down on the birds.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Mike Tyson Pigeon Racing Show Ruffles PETA's Feathers

Mike Tyson Pigeon Racing Show Ruffles PETA's Feathers

NEW YORK — An animal welfare group wants New York City prosecutors to investigate Mike Tyson's reality television show about pigeon racing.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the Brooklyn-based show is cruel to animals and its races could involve illegal gambling.

The show will follow Tyson as he competes in pigeon races. The former world heavyweight champion has raised pigeons all his life but is a racing rookie.

The show airs next year on Animal Planet. A spokeswoman says there have never been plans for wagering on the races. She says the pigeons will be "cherished and respected by their owners," including Tyson.

PETA sent a letter dated March 18 to the Brooklyn district attorney's office requesting an investigation.

District attorney spokesman Jonah Bruno says the office is looking into the allegations.

additional link (added 3/29/10)

PETA Offers $2,000 Reward for Information on Blow-gun Shootings of Pigeons in Seattle

Monday, April 28, 2008 - Page updated at 06:02 PM

FRANZISKA EDWARDS/PETA

This pigeon was photographed in downtown Seattle. The bird is still alive because the dart did not hit any of its vital organs.

PETA offers $2,000 reward for information on blow-gun shootings of pigeons in downtown Seattle
By Sonia Krishnan

Seattle Times staff reporter

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced today it is offering a $2,000 reward for information on one or more shooters involved in impaling pigeons in downtown Seattle with metal darts.

Several Seattle residents have called PETA in the past two weeks to report seeing three injured pigeons fluttering around with needle-like projectiles — about three to four inches long — piercing their heads, said Tori Perry, cruelty case worker for the Norfolk, Virginia-based organization. The birds were spotted on the 1400 block of Third Avenue and at the corner of Third Avenue and Union Street, she added.

The darts were fired from a blow gun, lodging directly behind the birds' eyes without penetrating their brains, Perry said.

The longer the darts remain, the higher the chance for the injury to get worse and infection to set in, she said. The end result: "a very, very painful death," Perry said.

"This is just a horrifying case," she said. "Someone who would do this to an animal is a short step away from doing this to a human being."

Authorities at the Seattle Animal Shelter said they have also gotten several complaints about the darted pigeons. And, they add, it's been difficult to track and capture the birds to get them proper treatment.

"They are quite athletic, good fliers," said Don Baxter, enforcement supervisor. "They're not hanging around waiting for an officer to get close" and take it to a veterinarian, he said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Seattle Animal Shelter at 206-386-7387.

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com

Related Article

PICAS International To Cease Working with PeTA

This week PiCAS International made the difficult decision to bring its longstanding working relationship with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA USA) to a close as a result of differences in approach to the issue of pigeon control. For a number of years PiCAS International has supported the work of PeTA in the USA where the provision of non-lethal and humane pigeon control systems are concerned and PeTA has, in turn, recommended the PiCAS approach widely.

Recently, PeTA made the decision to back a new oral contraceptive drug, OvoControl P, designed for use with pigeons and produced by an American pharmaceutical company called Innolytics (please see posts dated August 4th and August 6th 2007). PiCAS International made it clear to PeTA that it could not and would not back the use of a pharmaceutical drug when tried and tested and completely safe methods of birth control already exist in the form of PiCAS’ own egg removal/replacement programme. Other, more worrying issues have been raised in respect of the long-term use of OvoControl P where resistance to one of the most common causes of pigeon mortality is concerned - coccidiosis (please see comments posted on the August 4th post).

Although PiCAS International will no longer be working in tandem with PeTA over the issue of pigeon control, the PiCAS group still wholeheartedly supports the work of PeTA in other sectors of wildlife control and indeed its work to promote and maintain wildlife habitats.

Source: http://www.picas.org

Pigeon-Ban Pusher Addresses Community Board 12 Meeting

12/13/2007
Pigeon-ban pusher:‘I like pigeons’
By Matthew Wolfe
Courier Life Publications

City Councilmember Simcha Felder addresses CB 12 at a recent meeting.

City Councilmember Simcha Felder explained his rationale behind penalizing the public feeding of pigeons at a Community Board 12 meeting last week. Citing messiness and health danger, Felder said that while he supported the existence of pigeons he felt it important to keep their population growth in check.

“The proposal that I put forward is to ban feeding pigeons in public places” said Felder. “We don’t intend to eliminate pigeons in New York City or in the rest of the world.” Felder said he wouldn’t restrict the feeding of pigeons on private proper, he has reportedly said that he would like a $1,000 fine for the feeding of pigeons in public.

Felder has not yet introduced a bill, but has reportedly said that he will do in some time in December.

Felder suggested that he had scaled down his proposals from those offered in the report.

While Felder’s report recommends promoting the breeding of hawks to curb the pigeon population and the deployment of pigeon birth control - as well as appointing a city “Pigeon Czar” – he said at the meeting that he was currently “not into discussing” contraception and hawks but was only emphasizing the limitation of the bird’s food source.

The ASPCA and PETA, the animals organization, support his plan, Felder said, although for different reasons. The groups say that over-population is harmful to the species.

Communicable health risks involving pigeons all stem from contact with their excrement, Felder said. A recent report released by his office that outlined the reasons behind his plan, says the droppings can host such as ornithosis, encephalitis, Newcastle disease, cryptococcosis, toxoplasmosis, salmonella food poisoning and histoplasmosis. The reports says while the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene consider pigeon droppings to be only a nuisance, their literature cites the threat several diseases in the stool.

Due to the corrosive nature of their droppings, pigeons are estimated to cause approximately 1.1 billion in damage nationwide annually, the report said. According to a recent study, pigeons leave approximately 25 pounds of excrement over the course of a single year, or slightly more than one ounce a day. Pigeons are sufficiently supplied with food left out for them that they are unable to consume all of it. The remainder, Felder said, is often eaten by rats, allowing them to procreate and prosper.

Felder acknowledged to the Borough Park/Kensington residents present that while some may regard the blessings bestowed by the pigeons atop the elevated F-line as a good omen, he said others are less sanguine about receiving such a benediction.