Who cares about stupid pigeons?

Greenwood Baptist Church, Brooklyn NY August of 2003; I came home to find this sign posted on the gate of my otherwise neighborly neighborhood church. The police were waiting for me. I was "the girl who feeds the fricken pigeons."

I found out that the Church was annoyed; understandably, by the pigeon droppings which stained the outer ledges of the building. But arresting me for feeding the birds that sought refuge there seemed a bit much.

I believe it was probably Pastor Jones -- a slight, not terribly well-educated man of the cloth, who -- I suspect -- may have been responsible for the bold but incorrect spelling of "pigeons."

I later found out that the Police were in fact prepared to level very serious charges. Not the usual Dept. of Health "creating a nuisance" code 3-11; But Pastor Jones hoped and prayed most devoutly that I be convicted of "attacking the Church." An old, tried and true slam dunk of a felony that carried jail time.

Pastor Jones, I thought, you wouldn't?

Pastor Jones, I thought, you couldn't?

When I spotted the police I did what any normal patriotic citizen would do. I turned around and headed back the other direction. I ducked into the local B&N and had an overly expensive Late. Well worth the nearly $4.00 bucks I paid for it. $4.00 versus a possible sentence of one to five.

And yeah -- I got off easy. Comparatively. Compared to what is actually going on in the larger world of animal advocacy.

Recently, one of the most genuine animal rights groups, The Earth Liberation Front,
http://www.factnet.org/cults/earth_liberation_front/?FACTNet
was charged with "eco-terrorism."
http://www.furcommission.com/debate/words6.htm

As the Patriot Act is welded into a menacing unpatriotic weapon against free speech and freedom of information and well, er, just plain freedom, the day is fast approaching when pigeon-feeders like myself may sit side-by-side bioterrorists.

"Have you now?" they will ask me in a dimly lit interrogation chamber, "Have you now or have you ever fed PIGEONS? Do you admit to having the intention to continue feeding PIGEONS?? Will you name the names of those who you are sure feed PIGEONS??"


stupid pigeons

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THE PIGEON UNDERGROUND
The battle for the fair and humane treatment of urban animals in NYC (and other cities across the country) is not only a battle for their well being – but it is also a battle for the rights of the humans who care about their welfare.

Right now, scores of New Yorkers face eviction because landlords will not tolerate rehabilitating wounded birds or squirrels. Authorities manipulate laws dug up from the turn of the century that classify pigeons as “farm animals.”

and in case anyone is still in the dark about this -- farm animals should not be treated like,er, farm animals. Please visit http://themeatrix.com/

Civil rights have become seriously entangled with animal rights. And the question of how far the government and/or government agencies can go is a critical issue. To what extent can the government repress and restrict it’s citizens’ God-given right to extend help?

And, sadly, quietly and menacingly, New York City has become the leader in urban wildlife cruelty.

Just last month, NYC residents were devastated by the story of the merciless slaughter of wild ducks near the Flushing Meadows Boathouse. And, on June 15th, the Daily News reported that the Midtown Manhattan Haier building boasted of (illegally) trapping and probably killing more than 1,500 pigeons in the span of just a few months.
http://www.nydailynews.com/06-15-2004/news/story/202893p-175069c.html

Groups like the ASPCA (aspca.org), the New York Center for Animal Care and Control (NYCACC.org), New York City Pigeon Rescue Central (see links page) -- are ready to work together on behalf of urban wildlife. But the city will not hear it. Private, corporate interests and city tourism-related revenue block efforts to stop the city-wide negligence, abuse and common disregard for these urban birds & animals.

Although urban wildlife fall into many subheads -- for example Geese as differentiated from squirrels, an over arching city-wide policy should and must be articulated; at least as the starting point to the long overdue guardianship of our city's animals.

Specialists in wildlife management, veterinarians, environmentalists and public policy experts should and must join together to define and address the needs of all of the city's wildlife -- albeit that many of these animals fall into subhead and jurisdictions of state or national laws.

While the urbanscape does join together a host of both indigenous and "invasive" (eg. starlings, pigeons) species; their well being is now in our hands. Whether these animals were historic to North America or brought here on Spanish trade ships; their interests should and must be considered. The urbanscape cannot declare that only native species have a right to co-exist. This is here, we are now, and they all are in the "mix" together with us; invaders and non-indigenous humans now living in North America.

To this date, the Mayor's office and Ms. Gotbaum have ignored all requests to even begin to initiate a plan.

As Nobel Prize winning scientist, Albert Schweitzer was quoted as saying, “Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace." Until major urban centers like New York City uphold this principle, hundreds of thousands of animals and their advocates will continue to suffer.

Sincerely,

Johanna Clearfield, Director, Urban Wildlife Coalition - NYC

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