We’re not going to lie, pigeons are not really in the odor of sanctity in the metropolises. Some even call them “air rats”, given the frenzy with which they reproduce and their ability to feed on anything and everything. And what about their droppings, a fertilizer that is certainly effective, but which has no other use in the city than to rot buildings and damage the paint of cars. So, when the populations of these birds really become too numerous, some municipalities go to great lengths to get rid of them. This is particularly the case in Strasbourg or Lille.
Very clever who knows how to count the pigeons in Lille. All we can say is that they are numerous, very numerous, too numerous even according to the town hall. The municipality deplores an “overpopulation of pigeons, whose regulation is necessary”, we explain to 20 minutes. And this poses several problems, “in particular for the infectious risks linked to their droppings or to promote biodiversity”. So yes, the city pays a service provider to capture and euthanize the pigeons by gassing.
The same method as in poultry slaughterhouses
An “effective” and “necessary” method, denounced by the Paz association for its cruelty. “Let us remember that gassing is a cruel method: death is long and painful,” states the association in the text accompanying his petition for stopping pigeon capture campaigns, posted online last January.
On its website, the company providing the Lille town hall does not develop the euthanasia section, and even less the “elimination” method used. However, contrary to Paz’s claims, the captured pigeons are not gassed in CO2 chambers. According to our information, the birds are first stunned by electronarcosis, then they are gassed with argon. “Electronarcosis is a method used in poultry slaughterhouses which puts them to sleep and prevents them from suffering,” says 20 minutes a Lille veterinarian.
“What would Venice be without its pigeons?”, says 20 minutes Allain Bougrain Dubourg, president of the LPO. We can also learn to live with it, although we must recognize that it can pose a certain number of problems. » Euthanasia should not be talked to him about: “cruel” he also considers. “Some towns have opted for selective and contraceptive dovecotes and it works very well, even if it does indeed take a little more time,” insists Allain Bougrain Dubourg.
For its part, the Lille town hall affirms that it is “exploring various available options such as contraceptive dovecotes”. The city also encourages the installation of peregrine falcons “in order to better occupy the air space and to avoid too much comfort in the installation of newcomer pigeons”. Significant work is also being done with the population to prevent the feeding of pigeons. Except that as it stands, this is not enough, we are told, “the capture and euthanasia of pigeons are therefore necessary complementary tools”.