View Full Version : Animal housing crisis!


chem1st
16-03-2012, 19:44
Long before the housing crisis of humans came the housing crisis of animals, this crisis continues to get worse, much like the human housing crisis.

In particular that of the pigeons whom are forced to squat in prominent buildings which once stood proud and were hubs of activity!

It started with a lack of housing, in particular the decline of dovecotes.

Dovecotes have been around for 1000s of years, they were even used in the Roman empire.

Dovecotes, (or pigeon lofts), have a history that goes back to Roman times at least, though the oldest known example in Britain dates to about AD1000 and the oldest in Nottinghamshire to about the 14th century. Originally, only the rich and powerful were allowed, (or could afford), to build them: lords of the manor, clergy, monasteries and substantial farmers. Later these restrictions were relaxed.

http://www.keyworth-history.org.uk/about/reports/0704.htm

The decline began in the 18th century and has accelerated to this day!

For centuries doves and pigeons were a valuable source of meat, manure and feathers for mattresses. In the Middle Ages only manorial lords could keep these birds, so the few remaining medieval dovecotes are connected with manor houses, castles, parsonages or former monastic sites. The laws relaxed after about 1600, so many later farms had dovecotes, until their use declined after the 18th century.

http://www.buildinghistory.org/buildings/dovecotes.shtml

Recently councils across the country have been attacking the housing standards of pigeons by demolishing their housing. Much like that of the working class - pathfinder demolition of human housing (in particular in Northern areas in order to force price of housing up).

A PROFESSIONAL pigeon racing agent who refused to demolish two bird lofts built without permission has been ordered to pay £6,759.

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Breeder-fined-6-700-illegal-pigeon-lofts/story-13589557-detail/story.html

The day before my new Petron Loft was due to arrive I got a registered letter from the Council to tell me to remove all Pigeons from the site and demolish any lofts within a certain period

http://www.pigeonnetwork.com/articles/Darren_Lyons/Pigeons1.html

But the pigeons are fighting back, much like their human counterparts they have formed their own 'occupy' movement. They have seized and squatted buildings! For they need housing, as it is housing they are denied.

Only a couple of days a splinter group of pigeons took over the £5.5million Emmanuel church in Manchester!

Meanwhile, a few yards up Langworthy Road, the new `landmark' Emmanuel Church is on hold yet again as it turns into the most expensive pigeon loft in Britain. What the hell is going on?

http://www.salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=1320

The councils however continue to oppress pigeons and those that are housed, are blighted by substandard housing (much like their human counterparts in poor quality, mold ridden housing), leading to an increase in disease and illness.

Andrew Liddle claims substandard roofing on the Darlington Borough Council built lofts at Arnold Road, off Haughton Road, are threatening the safety of thousands of pounds worth of pigeons.

The lofts were built about three years ago as part of the transferral of Hundens Lane allotments to the new site on Arnold Road.

Mr Liddle pays rent to the council for his loft, and claims poor workmanship on the lofts is causing illness to his birds.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/darlington/8381455._Council_to_blame_for_sick_pigeons____fanc ier/


So as you can see, we have a housing crisis of animals, in particular one which affects pigeons (but also cats, dogs etc.) as they evicted with their human counterparts and struggle to find suitable housing - in particular buy to let landlords discriminate against animals and you see signs such as 'no pets' (and their human counterparts - 'no dss'), much like you used to see signs saying 'no blacks', 'no Irish'. Animals often end up in execution camps known as 'rescue centres' (where they are kept locked up in cages before being given fatal injections).

Gone are the days when grand dovecotes were built, where every pigeon had the right to a home! And now all you see is downtrodden pigeons walking the streets, feeding on scraps, squatting derelict buildings and so on.

What can we do to solve this pigeon housing crisis? Surely we should not demolish pigeon lofts, new pigeon lofts need to be built! Affordable pigeon lofts!

Is it not a case of land monopoly, that of the crown, and as their land monopoly extending they had a monopoly upon communication in the form of royal mail, thus putting the pigeons out of work and ultimately resulting in the loss of their housing!

Perhaps we should follow in the steps of our European brethren in Austria and build purpose built housing for birds. Like they do in the town of Rust for the storks!

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/cd6b1/4ef90/

Even the French do this (again for storks) in the town of Munster!

http://www.ville-munster68.fr/tourisme_loisirs/en/tourisme_cigognes.html

What do you think about the pigeon housing crisis, and how can we solve it?

Expat owl
16-03-2012, 20:17
For the sake of everyone's sanity chem1st, give it a rest will you !!

chem1st
16-03-2012, 20:44
For the sake of everyone's sanity chem1st, give it a rest will you !!

Pigeonist! Have you got pigeon envy?

Why don't pigeons deserve decent housing?

Surely a city the size of Sheffield could have a few dovecotes like this one;

http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.digitised_resources/0.images/willington_dovecote.jpg

?

andyofborg
16-03-2012, 20:50
you could let them live at your place

Rampent
16-03-2012, 20:50
Cats get free homes. Everybody bangs on about cats on here. Why should pigeons be left out? They give as much comfort to some peeps - like cats do and stuff.

Scozzie
16-03-2012, 20:51
DOVES HAVE RIGHTS TOO!

If you push all the doves out of the dovecotes to make way for the pigeons, there will be a housing crisis for the doves.

Hells Bells - where will it all end? Please show your support for doves here

www.dovecoatsForDoves.co.uk

Rampent
16-03-2012, 20:52
you could let them live at your place

A pigeon might save your life one day. Don't scoff.

Rampent
16-03-2012, 20:54
DOVES HAVE RIGHTS TOO!

If you push all the doves out of the dovecotes to make way for the pigeons, there will be a housing crisis for the doves.

Hells Bells - where will it all end?

It's OK. Bill Oddie has a plan for this crisis. I would give you a link, but my bing busted again. Bah!

chem1st
16-03-2012, 21:01
DOVES HAVE RIGHTS TOO!

If you push all the doves out of the dovecotes to make way for the pigeons, there will be a housing crisis for the doves.

Hells Bells - where will it all end? Please show your support for doves here

www.dovecoatsForDoves.co.uk

Indeed they do, and hence the need to house both pigeons and doves!

Our world would be a sad place without them!

Turtledove

Six o'clock on a Sunday morn
I hear the call of a forlorn
Dove. Its mourning sound so sadly
pled evokes a melancholy.
It spurred my thinking back in time
When I was of another mind:
A time when we had fell in love
And witnessed by a turtledove.
So many springs have come and gone
And still I hear its cry at dawn
A sound that conjures up in me
A sad but loving reverie:
A daydream of that morning bird
Whose sad refrains we both had heard.

Albert Ahearn

Surely we should house a traditional symbol love, the pigeon like, turtle dove!

*Peaches*
16-03-2012, 21:12
Shoot em all, problem solved :nod:

Rampent
16-03-2012, 21:19
Shoot em all, problem solved :nod:

Why? All life requires a home, don't you think?

*Peaches*
16-03-2012, 21:20
Not if they're dead! Horrid things pigeons, flying rats

Rampent
16-03-2012, 21:21
Not if they're dead! Horrid things pigeons, flying rats

What about rabbits and guinea pigs!! :D

*Peaches*
16-03-2012, 21:22
You can keep rabbits, piggies aren't vermin :D

melthebell
16-03-2012, 21:25
What about rabbits and guinea pigs!! :D
erm they cant fly tut

chem1st
16-03-2012, 21:26
Shoot em all, problem solved :nod:

Shooting pigeons leads to more pigeons!

The use of lethal methods to control bird populations is not only expensive but its use actually compounds and exacerbates the problem for the client. However, it is a highly profitable service for the pest control contractor concerned. Conventional bird control is designed to deal with the problem itself rather than the source of the problem and essentially this is where PiCAS’s approach differs from that of the pest control industry. PiCAS will not only deal with the problem itself but also the impact and source of the problem providing the client with a comprehensive, sustainable and cost-effective control system. Due to its independent stance, and because PiCAS does not sell any products or services other than professional consultancy services, all advice provided is in the best interests of the client.

Scientific research* has now confirmed what the pest control industry has always known, that killing birds as a method of control acts to increase population size, not reduce it. Scientific research carried out in Switzerland by the University of Basel, between 1988 and 1992, clearly demonstrates that killing pigeons as a control option is counter-productive. The research programme also found that without having the ability to regulate the volume of food provided to pigeon populations other controls such as the installation of deterrents were considerably less effective. Where a reduction of flock size is the goal, a permanent reduction of available food within any given area is essential, certainly in terms of the impact on individual properties.

During a census in 1963 the City of Basel was found to have a pigeon population of 20,000 birds and in the following 24 years the city council used every means at their disposal to reduce the population, including killing over 100,000 pigeons by means of cage-trapping and shooting. In 1988, a pigeon head count revealed that Basel’s wild pigeon population was nearer 30,000 pigeons, an increase of 33% over and above the figure of 20,000 birds counted in the 1963 census. This dramatic increment in flock size confirmed that the city council’s lethal control policy, operated between 1963 and 1985, had not only been totally ineffective but had actually resulted in an increase in pigeon flock size of nearly one third. As a result, the city council realised that the problem had to be tackled at source. The source of the problem in Basel was the persistent feeding of the birds by residents in the city combined with the excessive use of lethal controls.

http://www.picasuk.com/alternatives_to_lethal_bird_control.html

Rampent
16-03-2012, 21:30
You can keep rabbits, piggies aren't vermin :D

:D They look kinda like rats though. Me ex mate 'Pete The Beast' said so :(

Rampent
16-03-2012, 21:31
erm they cant fly tut

Anything can fly. It depends on how copes in the air.

Skirmisher
16-03-2012, 22:22
For the sake of everyone's sanity chem1st, give it a rest will you !!

It's a great ssssssssssssssssss.......coop!

lectrolove
16-03-2012, 22:50
Give the buggers a home and they don't appreciate it. Our flock moved out after a couple of years without a word of thanks or a backward glance, they never did any housework or maintenance either.

chem1st
23-12-2012, 14:48
I walked through town today, and whilst I saw many pigeons, I did not see a single dovecote!

What with the inflation in stamps, perhaps people will be inclined to start housing pigeons again!

altus
23-12-2012, 15:31
I walked through town today, and whilst I saw many pigeons, I did not see a single dovecote!

What with the inflation in stamps, perhaps people will be inclined to start housing pigeons again!

chem1st, you are aware aren't you that the pigeons you see in town are likely to be rock doves (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Dove) who, as their name implies, prefer to nest/roost on rocky outcrops/cliffs. Ledges on tall buildings are far closer to their natural habitats than dovecots are. Any other wild pigeons you see are likely to be wood pigeons - guess where they prefer to live.