Some people litter, some throw them food

TODAY
Some people litter, some throw them food
05:55 AM Aug 06, 2009
Letter from Grace Wong Public Relations Manager Marine Parade Town Council

WE WOULD like to thank Ms Melissa Lim for her views on "Address root cause" (July 30).

We share Ms Lim's comments that littering is the root cause of pigeons congregating and becoming pests within the estate.

Over the years, we strive to educate the public against poor social habits, such as littering and feeding the pigeons out of their windows through our publicity drives.

We have taken on public education programmes through displaying of messages on the town council's noticeboards and newsletters and taking part in the Island-wide Cleanest Estate Competitions to promote community ownership in keeping the environment clean.

While the majority do exercise personal responsibility in caring for the environment, there is a minority who do not do so.

Efforts have been put in to spot them in action but it requires much manpower and resources.

Our town council will continue to work with the relevant agencies and will not hesitate to take action against those who are found littering.

The culling of pigeons will only be carried out when the population is high so as to prevent the risk of people contracting birds' transmitted diseases.

We wish to assure residents that the town council is committed in sustaining a clean and green environment and we seek all residents' cooperation not to litter or throw food out of their windows.

Should members of the public wish to provide further feedback or suggestions, they may contact us at 1800-241 6487.

Facts about pigeon-related diseases

General Public
Routine cleaning of droppings (e.g. from windowsills) does not pose a serious health risk to most people. Some simple precautions can be taken to further reduce direct contact with droppings, such as wearing disposable gloves and clothes that can be washed.




What do the experts say?

The real experts in the field all agree that there is no tangible health risk to human beings from contact with pigeons:

	Mike Everett, spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said, in The Big Issue Magazine, February 2001: "The whole 'rats with wings' thing is just emotive nonsense. There is no evidence to show that they (pigeons) spread disease.”
	The Chief Veterinary Officer, when addressing the House of Lords in 2000 on the issue of pigeons in Trafalgar Square was asked if the large number of pigeons in the Square represented a health risk to human beings. The Chief Veterinary Officer told The House that in his opinion they did not.
	Charlotte Donnelly, an American bird control expert told the Cincinnati Environment Advisory Council in her report to them: "The truth is that the vast majority of people are at little or no health risk from pigeons and probably have a greater chance of being struck by lightening than contracting a serious disease from pigeons."
	Guy Merchant, Director of The Pigeon Control Advisory Service (PICAS) says, when talking about the transmission of disease by pigeons: "If we believed everything we read in the media about pigeons and the farcical propaganda distributed by the pest control industry we would ever leave our homes. The fact of the matter is that there is probably a greater risk to human health from contact with domestic pets such as cats, dogs and caged birds."
	David A Palmer (B.V.Sc., M.R.C.V.S) said in an article entitled 'Pigeon Lung Disease Fatality and Health Risk from Ferals': "Obviously, since all these Allergic Extrinsic Alveolitis disease syndromes rely on the involved person having a very specific allergy before any disease, involving respiratory distress and very unusually death, can possibly be seen, it really makes absolute nonsense for a popular daily newspaper to suggest that pigeons present a health hazard and presumably need eliminating for the well-being of the nation’s health.”
	David Taylor BVMS FRCVS FZS: “In 50 years professional work as a veterinary surgeon I cannot recall one case of a zoonosis in a human that was related to pigeons. On the other hand I know of, and have seen, examples of human disease related to contact with dogs, cats, cattle, monkeys, sheep, camels, budgies, parrots, cockatoos, aquarium fish and even dolphins, on many occasions.”
	The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, the New York City Department of Health, and the Arizona Department of Health all agree that diseases associated with pigeons present little risk to people. “We have never documented a pigeon to human transmission in the state of Arizona,” said Mira J Leslie, Arizona’s state public health veterinarian.

If there was any real chance of pigeons spreading disease to human beings we would see epidemics amongst pigeon fanciers that race pigeons and spend much of their time in dusty pigeon lofts. We would also see all those involved with the rehabilitation of pigeons in wildlife hospitals worldwide dropping like flies. The facts speak for themselves. Pigeons do not spread disease and if we need to get rid of pigeons on the basis of the fact that there is 'potential' for them to pass on diseases to human beings then we need to get rid of all feral birds. At the end of the day 99% of so called 'pigeon problems' are, in reality, people problems. It is human beings that create the waste upon which pigeons feed and if we cleaned up our act we would have considerably less pigeons to worry about. So is it really the feral pigeon that is vermin?