Fans of falcon ignore poisoned pigeons
November 15th, 2006 by admin
We are always happy to read about people speaking up for animals. But it can be depressing how often people are willing to defend “beautiful” or rare animals, and at the same time ignore the suffering of more common animals.
This week the Palm Beach Post published a story about a peregrine falcon who lives on the Palm Beach County Courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach. The courthouse has been using a poison called Avitrol to discourage pigeons from roosting on the building, and now people are concerned that the falcon may also become sick by ingesting the poison directly, or through eating dead or dying pigeons. Courthouse employees have named the falcon (”Marvin”) and the property manager told the paper that, “We’re not trying to hurt the falcon.” Sadly, the suffering of pigeons is not given a second thought.
Avitrol is a notorious toxin that is commonly used by pest control companies. Avitrol affects the nervous system causing birds to suffer from tremors and seizures before dying. Its use is banned in New York City and San Francisco, among other cities. Not only is Avitrol cruel, it is at best a temporary solution (a permanent solution would be to make the building surfaces unsuitable for roosting).
Please contact Palm Beach County’s Facilities Operations department and urge them to investigate humane, non-lethal methods of reducing conflicts with pigeons at the courthouse- for the pigeons sake as well as for Marvin.
Contact:
Audrey Wolf, Director
Palm Beach County - Facilities Development & Operations
3200 Belvedere Road, Building 1169
West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Phone: (561) 233-0200
Send an e-mail using this online form.