by johnnymarin | Oct 29, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Two sisters in Hong Kong have taken it on their shoulders to rescue and nurse wounded pigeons in their area.
The sisters, named Inez and Gian, run their group “Hong Kong Pigeon and Dove Rescue” on Facebook where they promote awareness on the welfare of the magnificently plumed birds.
Their initiative was founded four years ago, after Gian rescued a pigeon and took it to the veterinarian for check up. According the South China Morning Post on Oct. 13, Gian had to go to many veterinarians until one was willing enough to look at the injured pigeon. The pigeon was eventually put down.
“Looking back, I think I could’ve nursed it back to health and kept it,” Gian was quoted as saying. “Even if it never flew again, at least it would’ve lived.”
This moment was what compelled Gian and Inez, both in their 30s, to finally push through with their pigeon rescue group. Many friends supported the sisters in their initiative and, in just a year, had over a thousand members in the Facebook community.
“There aren’t many locally available pigeon care resources and providers, unlike those for cats and dogs,” Gian added. “So we created a platform where people can exchange pigeon care tips and learn how to care for sick and injured pigeons without professional intervention.”
Despite their vast efforts, however, there are still people who think lowly of pigeons and scorn at the sisters’ undertaking. Some are also misinformed when it comes to the birds, and automatically connect pigeons with diseases. For Inez and Gian, however, pigeons are just victims of prejudice.
“Many people automatically associate pigeons with avian flu, partly because of public health campaigns,” Gian said in the report. “I see where they’re coming from, but I hope they would delve deeper into this issue instead of simply believing everything they hear.”
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Oct 28, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
Representative image AHMEDABAD: A man and his son were beaten by three persons over an alleged theft of pigeons in the Madhavpura area of the city late on Monday night. The complainant, Gulzar Qureshi (51), and his son Arman (16) were sleeping at the terrace of their house in Rustam Mill’s Chawl in Madhavpura when three unknown persons rushed there and started asking why Qureshi’s son had stolen four of their pigeons. “The three persons abused and assaulted me while asking about their pigeons. On seeing me being beaten by them, my son Arman intervened but they then started beating him as well. During the fight, my son fell from the terrace and suffered a fracture in his leg,” said Qureshi. Qureshi then began shouting for help and as people from his neighbourhood gathered, the three men fled. Qureshi and his son were taken to Civil Hospital in Asarwa, where Arman was hospitalized. Madhavpura police lodged a complaint of assault, using abusive language, and abetment, against three unknown persons.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Oct 27, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
The Yarmouk district in Damascus has switched hands many times in Syria’s war: from rebels, to Daesh (so-called IS) militants, and back to government forces. But Abu Nimr did not budge.
He has remained in his family home with his dog through bombs, siege, and fierce battles for more than seven years, raising pigeons on his roof even as people fled in droves.
Since the army clawed back the enclave around five months ago, he has helped clear heaps of rubble from the streets and repair abandoned houses.
“My siblings and I lived in this building. They’re all married. They left so their kids could go to school,” Abu Nimr told Reuters in the Yarmouk Palestinian camp in the Syrian capital.
“I thought I’d stay here alone, keep an eye on the family property, and hoped things would be resolved within days. But seven years passed, God kept me patient.”
Abu Nimr, who is originally Palestinian, owned a shop selling sweets like baklawa before the conflict.
At the onset, he stored food from the empty houses of his relatives. As supplies dwindled, he often slept hungry. “I took a decision seven years ago that weapons are not my thing. Bloodshed is not easy,” he said.
Abu Nimr, 36, did odd jobs over the years and spent time with his dog Balo. “He was my friend through the siege, and I relied on him to guard the house when I went out.”
When the fighting got too close, he would hide in the furthest room with a hammer in case he had to dig himself out.
The violence has turned his neighborhood into a ghost town, with twisted metal and collapsed walls still blocking some streets. Others are closed off with signs warning of landmines.
By the time the last battle came this year, after scores of residents had escaped or died, only 16 people were left in his neighborhood.
But he refused to leave. “The people fled? The warplanes dropped bombs? The militants entered? It doesn’t matter.”
Now, Abu Nimr wants to bring life back to Yarmouk and hopes people will be able to return soon.
Former neighbors and residents call him from other parts of Syria or abroad, asking him to check on their homes. They send him some money to clean up and repair damages.
State employees and volunteers have opened all of the main roads, he said. “We help with what we can.”
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Oct 26, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
He turns to sisters Gian and Inez and snaps at them: “The reason they’re here defecating and spreading germs all over the place is because people like you feed them!”
The man, who declined to give his name, then takes a fresh mouthful of water before launching another attack on the birds.
Inez says this outburst is relatively mild, adding that she has seen people pour boiling water over pigeons.
She and Gian run “Hong Kong Pigeon and Dove Rescue”, a Facebook group dedicated to promoting awareness for the well-being of pigeons, and which teaches members how to nurse sick birds back to health.
When Gian rescued her first pigeon four years ago, she took the injured bird to several vets before one was willing to take a look at it. The pigeon had a broken wing and it was likely it would never fly again. On the vet’s advice, Gian reluctantly had the bird put down. “Looking back, I think I could’ve nursed it back to health and kept it,” she says. “Even if it never flew again, at least it would’ve lived.”
It was this loss that inspired Gian and Inez, both in their 30s and who prefer to be mentioned only by their first names, to start the Facebook group. With the help of a few like-minded friends, in one year, the group has developed into a community of more than 1,100 members.
“There aren’t many locally available pigeon care resources and providers, unlike those for cats and dogs,” says Gian, a self-taught pigeon rescuer.
“So we created a platform where people can exchange pigeon care tips and learn how to care for sick and injured pigeons without professional intervention.”
For many Hongkongers, like those in the park, what they are doing is unthinkable.
“Pigeons are filthy!” Leung Iok-lam, 70, says.
A pair of Form Six students from a nearby secondary school seem to agree. “I wouldn’t touch a sick pigeon if I saw one,” Melody Ni Tak-yan says. “I’d worry about contracting some sort of disease.”
“Or making a sick pigeon sicker,” Lim Chi-ling adds.
Gian and Inez however, believe pigeons are the victims of misconceptions.
“Many people automatically associate pigeons with avian flu, partly because of public health campaigns,” says Gian, referring to government regulations that forbid feeding feral pigeons to prevent the spread of so-called “bird diseases”.
“I see where they’re coming from, but I hope they would delve deeper into this issue instead of simply believing everything they hear.”
The regulations were introduced in 2003 as part of the government’s efforts to slow the growth of feral bird populations, which authorities claimed were a public nuisance and the cause of hygiene problems. Offenders face fines of HK$1,500 (US$191).
However, according to findings by the World Health Organisation (WHO) from 2002, comparative studies involving pigeons and other bird species showed pigeons were resistant or minimally susceptible to coming down with bird flu.
Subsequent studies on pigeons sampled in China, Japan, Turkey, Romania and Ukraine suggest that pigeons have played a minimal role in the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus, which emerged in 2004.
Still, the WHO cautioned against unnecessary close contact with pigeons, citing other studies that demonstrate an increased susceptibility of pigeons to the H5N1 strain.
Gian and Inez, who have cared for more than 100 sick or injured pigeons over the past four years, say they have never contracted diseases from the birds, despite not using gloves, surgical masks and other protective gear when handling them. The sisters believe the government’s persistent warnings have created an unwarranted fear of pigeons among many Hongkongers, including even animal health care workers.
“One time, I took a pigeon to the vet to get an X-ray – and it was returned to me with a broken leg,” says Inez. She suspects the medical staff, whom she says were reluctant to handle the bird , broke the leg during the scan.
Meanwhile, Gian recalls being turned down by multiple vets: “Many vets are concerned about taking in pigeons because they do not want to risk getting in trouble with the law, or worry about bird flu affecting business.”
“Many vets are concerned about taking in pigeons because they do not want to risk getting in trouble with the law, or worry about bird flu affecting business”
In Hong Kong, premises where more than 20 pigeons are bred, housed, or cared for require a licence.
Gian has had to rent a second flat to accommodate her work. Her retail career, which requires shift work, means dedicating time to the pigeons can sometimes be difficult. “When you really believe in something, you’ll do whatever it takes to do it right,” she says.
Looking ahead, the Facebook group hopes to involve more experts and professionals from relevant fields to conduct research on the impact of pigeons on public health and the environment, and potentially propose changes to legislation and education – for example, designating feeding zones and implementing measures to control the pigeon population.
Passionate as she may be, Gian is careful where she draws the line between her career, personal life and volunteering. “Many people take it for granted that we would drop everything and help out whenever there is a pigeon in need,” she says. “But I have my own life to lead. If we’re going to push for change, it’s got to be a team effort.”
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by johnnymarin | Oct 25, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
A group of thirteen pigeons currently living in a research facility in Australia are making history as the first ever pigeons to contain the Cas9 gene in their reproductive systems.
Ben Novak, a scientist committed to “de-extinction” and bringing back the passenger pigeon, has high hopes for the offspring of the pigeons.
Because the birds contain the Cas9 genes, their squabs (fledgling pigeons) will have the Cas9 gene in every single cell and researchers will be able to edit their DNA using CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing tool.
If successful, the pigeons will be the first live animals ever edited with extinct DNA.
The ultimate goal is to edit the DNA of the pigeons and incorporate crucial traits of the long-since exciting passenger pigeon to create wholly new hybrids that look and act like passenger pigeons.
This process is similar to plans for bringing back the woolly mammoth by using Asian elephants, the woolly mammoth’s closest living relative.
Sequencing the genome of an extinct species presents many challenges for researchers because the fossil fragments left behind and on display in museums or labs contain only a partial picture.
According to the Wall Street Journal, after an animal dies, it’s DNA begins to degrade and so extinct animals have only fragments of a complete genome.
From this, researchers need to get creative to fill in the blanks and so the obvious solution is to look to the closest living relative of the extinct species in question.
Beth Shapiro, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led a project that compared the sequenced genome of the band-tailed pigeon and extinct passenger pigeons.
This allowed the research team to identify the genes that set the two species apart. The newly sequenced fragments of the passenger pigeon also revealed new insight into why the birds went extinct.
Once, passenger pigeons were the most abundant land bird in the United States. Passenger pigeons suffered speedy declines because their meat was prized and they were hunted to the brink of extinction. The last known passenger pigeon died in 1914.
Shapiro’s research shows that the birds were genetically geared to thrive in large flocks and it was their sharp dip in numbers that made them more vulnerable and less able to cope.
“Passenger pigeons were fantastically well adapted to living in their large population sizes,” Shapiro told the Daily Mail. “It was the very sudden shift to a small population size that was problematic.”
The researchers also found that the birds were not as genetically diverse as other abundant species.
Building on Shapiro’s research, Novak hopes to breed his new Cas9 pigeons until he has 22 living pairs of feelings that will eventually be bred as well. Once the birds are introduced to passenger pigeon DNA, Novak’s team will edit band-tailed pigeons with as many traits from the passenger pigeon as possible.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
