Debate is raging online over how to deal with street cats following the recent death of a “cat mom” in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
A cat mom refers to a person who provides food to stray cats. The police at first suspected that the Yongin woman was killed by one of her neighbors who hated people taking care of stray cats, given that she was hit by a brick while setting up a shelter for feral cats in a garden at the apartment building.
But the suspect identified by the police on Friday was a 10-year-old boy who confessed he dropped the brick from the rooftop of the apartment building while playing with his friends.
While the cat mom was found to have been killed for reasons having nothing to do with stray cats, her death nevertheless highlighted the escalating tension between cat moms and residents.
These days we hear more frequently about people going to court due to conflicts over street cats.
Cat moms say there is nothing wrong with looking after alley cats. They even argue that feeding them contributes to keeping the neighborhood clean, as no trash bags would be dug into by hungry cats.
But they turn a blind eye to the problems that street cats can cause. Among other things, they pose health risks for residents as they can carry diseases.
Although stray cats present risks, getting rid of them in a merciless method is totally inappropriate in ethical terms.
But it is also problematic to let them proliferate without taking action. Seoul alone is believed to have more than 250,000 street cats.
The most effective method to stabilize stray cat populations is known to be the Trap-Neuter-Return program, which involves humanely trapping stray cats and having them spayed or neutered before returning them to their outdoor home.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government launched a TNR program in 2008, leaving its implementation to the 25 ward offices.
The Gangdong District ward office has been operating the TNR program successfully. The office set up community cat feeding stations as part of the program and managed to stabilize the feline population in the district.
The office says the feeding stations are also effective in reducing conflicts between residents over stray cats as they themselves play the role of cat moms.
The problem with feeding stations is that it takes money to operate them. Neutering also costs more than 100,000 won ($88) per cat. This is one reason other ward offices have difficulty maintaining the TNR program. But if conflicts over stray cats worsen, it would be worth the expense.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
An Uckfield church spent many years trying to prevent pigeons messing on their statue depicting a modern-day Christ but at last it seems a solution has been found.
The Catholic church of Our Lady Immaculate and St Philip Neri was the focus of world attention when their sculpture, dubbed Jesus in Jeans by the media, was unveiled in 2009 but pigeons soon made it their favourite perch.
Alan Duncan who, with a colleague, helps with maintenance issues was at the end of his tether after spending considerable funds and much research on different possible solutions to keep the statue clean.
Even anti-bird spikes on the statue’s halo didn’t do the trick but what has worked is a gel fixed to the statue which appears to the birds as flames and deters them from landing.
The sculpture hangs on the front face of the church tower above what was once a disabled access ramp.
At one stage there was so much excrement on the area, from the pigeons roosting on the sculpture above, that the ramp underneath the statue became slippery and dangerous.
And so, as an alternative access was available, the area was re-designed as a flower bed with conifers.
It was Cleankill Environmental Services, which has extensive expertise in controlling pest birds, which came up with a solution after being called in to assess the problem.
Jon Whitehead, director of Cleankill Environmental Services, explains: “The sculpture has a hollow back which created a perfect home for around 20 pigeons. They would nest inside and rest on the halo creating an unsightly and unhygienic mess.”
Cleankill used a special product called Bird Free Gel which they fixed to the statue at certain points, including the halo. The gel appears as flames to the birds so they are discouraged from landing.
Alan Duncan said: “We are all so pleased that Cleankill has solved the problem. We were at a loss as to what to do next. At one point we put anti-bird spikes on various resting places, painting them gold to match the halo. Unfortunately, the pigeons were ‘most comfortable’ with the additions.
“The service from Cleankill was excellent and very professional, including many after-care visits.”
The statue, by Lewes-based sculptor Marcus Cornish, attracted interest from across the globe when it was revealed in 2009. It was unveiled by The Pope’s ambassador to this country, the papal nuncio Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz, and the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton blessed it.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
A HOME-owner says his garden has become a no-go zone because it is inundated with birds – making him the most pooed on man in Britain.
Fed-up Daniel Norman has got so sick of the raining excrement every time he steps outside he is demanding his local council takes immediate action.
He claims he is constantly plagued by a barrage of bird poo from pigeons roosting in a derelict building next door.
The 25-year-old is now wants council chiefs to board up the old pool hall which has become home to dozens of offenders.
Daniel lives behind the former Pot Black building in Plymouth, Devon, which has been left severely dilapidated after a fire ravaged it nine years ago.
He says pigeons have been nesting in the grade II listed property, which is now owned Plymouth City Council (PCC), and constantly drop their faeces in his garden – meaning he cannot even hang his washing out to dry.
Daniel lives in social housing owned by Sanctuary Housing but, according to the driver’s mate and warehouse worker, the housing association says it can’t do anything to rectify the problem.
He said: “I’ve been fighting this case for the last five years.
“Because the building is not boarded up, the pigeons are going in there and roosting. If it was boarded up, it wouldn’t be an issue.
“But that seems to be too much to ask.”
Daniel contacted the council and an inspector from environmental health visited his property offering to send a team “every week” to clean up the mess – but made no offer to board-up the windows.
In July, the council pushed through a compulsory purchase order to take responsibility for the sale of the building, previously belonging to the Mechanics Institute.
Labour’s Councillor Chris Penberthy, responsible for housing, said at the time that the interior was in a “filthy state” and inhabited by breeding pigeons who were “making a mess everywhere”.
Since the order, which was not contested by the owner, went through, it is now the council’s responsibility to maintain the building.
A Plymouth City Council spokeswoman said: “We are currently in the process of an enforced sale action under the Law of Property Act 1925.
“This process works in the same way as a mortgage company selling a property to recover mortgage arrears. This means that the council does not take ownership of the property, but it gives us the ability to sell it.
“We understand the frustrations of local residents over the state of the building which is why after repeated requests to the owners to sort out the building we took tough action.
“Whilst the sale is going through we will review the current situation of the building to see if there are any additional steps we can take to secure the building.”
A spokesperson from Sanctuary Housing said: “We sympathise with those living nearby and have repeatedly arranged for the garden to be cleaned.
“Our contractors also attempted to clear the area earlier this month, and we are speaking to Mr Norman in order to arrange an appointment so that the work can be carried out.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
CHILLICOTHE – A downtown building owner has reached out to city officials in hopes they will take action to deal with pigeons in the area, although one city councilwoman says the issue appears to be one that won’t be solved anytime soon.
Cam Shipley, who owns the structure known as the Warner Hotel that spans from 27-37 N. Paint St., approached city officials earlier this week about his concerns about pigeons in the area. He said he wants an ordinance drafted because he isn’t permitted to kill the birds and referred to them as being “a real health issue.”
Shipley said he has tried to deter pigeons through various means, including noisemakers, chemicals being sprayed and plastic owls being displayed. Shipley addressed a city committee on Monday about the issue.
“The fact that they’re even talking about it is interesting because you’re going to find that there are animal activists that say, ‘No, you shouldn’t kill anything’ and I agree, I agree with it, but they don’t have the problems we have and they don’t have the serious health issues from the droppings that are all over the building all over town,” Shipley said.
Currently, Shipley has a net above his building to deter the birds and believes once the Carlisle Building opens for business later this fall, pigeons will be a problem there as well. Shipley is also considering an electrical deterrent on the building, adding that he is looking at other alternatives in the meantime and hopes the city will take some action on the matter in the next year or two.
Still, he stressed that he thinks downtown Chillicothe has a bright future ahead of itself and thinks pigeons continue to be an issue until some solution is found to control them. Bob Etling, who owns a building located on West Second Street, is in favor of controlling pigeons and suggested having a few hawks in the downtown area to get rid of them.
“That’s the natural solution,” Etling said.
But City Councilwoman Beth Neal said she thinks the pigeon issue won’t go away anytime soon.
She said officials will explore what has worked in other locations to deal with pigeons, but stressed that it appears there isn’t much the city can do in the meantime.
“It’s an ongoing problem that will never be solved and all we can do is try to find a humane way to control the pigeons, to make sure we’re not doing anything to encourage them to roost there,” Neal said. “Our goal is to see how we can help downtown building owners. It’s not a problem we’re going to resolve.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Mondovi (WQOW) – Tuesday night, Mondovi City Council will consider a problem dotted with pigeon droppings.
News 18 spoke with the City Administrator Dan Lauersdorf on Monday. He said it’s a continuing problem, and that Mondovi has been dealing with pigeon control for the past 28 years he’s been there.
Lauersdorf also said downtown business owners are sick of seeing pigeons perched on their buildings and sick of the droppings they leave behind. It’s been about five years since the city has tried getting rid of them, like poisoning corn kernels, or setting out decoy owls to scare them away, but the pigeons keep coming back and so do the proposals to get rid of them.
“I got one today, a company that has a machine shoots something in the air that’s supposed to make the pigeons not want to come to that area, it’s made from the skin of grapes,” Lauersdorf added.
Lauersdorf also received a couple proposals to live-trap the birds. Tuesday, the city council will consider all the proposals. A final decision may or may not be made.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
THERE’S A REASON Woody Allen once dubbed pigeons the rats of the sky. They’re filthy. They poop on everything, and that stuff can carry disease. And they pester you mercilessly, especially when you’re just trying to eat a sandwich. Everyone knows they’re gross.
Well, almost everyone. Photographer Mårten Lange loves them, and says pigeons aren’t the problem, cities are. “Pigeons are dirty because cities are dirty,” says Lange, whose book, Citizen, features striking black-and-white portraits of Columba livia domestica. “So if you find them disgusting, look around you.”
The Swedish photographer, who has made similarlystunning portraits of crows in Tokyo, started photographing pigeons while living in London last year. He was drawn to how they struggle, much like humans, to overcome the challenges of a hostile cityscape. Each day presents a number of dangers: flying into a window, being eaten by a cat, losing a toe to those bits of string that always seem to wind around their feet. “These birds are very often quite beat up, dirty, crippled and just sad, but they never give up,” he says.
Click to Open Overlay GalleryCitizen, Études Books, 2015. MÅRTEN LANGE
Though pigeons typically gather in flocks, Lange shot them individually using a long lens to blur the background and an on-camera flash to make the birds look like cut-outs. Given that pigeons are essentially fearless, getting close was no problem. “The flash would make them twitch sometimes, but they were quite indifferent to being photographed,” Lange says.
The whimsical portraits look like they were made in a studio. Each bird appears surprisingly unique and regal, its eyes and gestures communicating emotions like fear, anger, playfulness, and contentment. You almost expect them to talk. “They are individuals,” Lange says, “just like us.”
Maybe he’s right. Pigeons are pretty smart, after all. And they’re industrious, capable of finding their way home across great distances—a trait that made them particularly useful for communication during the First and Second World Wars. Charles Darwin and Nikola Tesla both loved them. And they can actually be quite beautiful, as Lange’s photographs show. But the photographer isn’t trying to make anyone love pigeons, only appreciate them as something more than flying rats. “I’m just pointing to a correlation between our lives and theirs,” he says. “Our habitat is their habitat.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Debate is raging online over how to deal with street cats following the recent death of a “cat mom” in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
A HOME-owner says his garden has become a no-go zone because it is inundated with birds – making him the most pooed on man in Britain.
CHILLICOTHE – A downtown building owner has reached out to city officials in hopes they will take action to deal with pigeons in the area, although one city councilwoman says the issue appears to be one that won’t be solved anytime soon.
Mondovi (WQOW) – Tuesday night, Mondovi City Council will consider a problem dotted with pigeon droppings.
THERE’S A REASON