Bad Press

[Guest XANADU LOFTS]

Came home from work last night, opened the local free paper to find this load of crap printed in it, what with hawkes and cretins like our Mr Nash it does not paint a good picture of our feathered friends to the general public.

Hes obviously short of business as the article reads more like an advert for his pest control company than an unbiased peice of jornalism.

Anyway I think I will contact the newspaper and see if we are going to be given the right to reply, asuming we are what would you say are the 10 most important GOOD things we can say about our birds and hobby, I will start us off with-

 

They helped us win the war and saved thousands of lives in doing so !

[Guest XANADU LOFTS]

try again

[Guest IB]

I think it is more than just bad press, it could alarm the general public into believing what is after all pure sales pitch.

 

I think you will find this letter interesting. If you do write to the newspaper, it's from an official source and contains the ammo to nail this guy as a scaremonger, and clear our pigeons names.

 

 

14 December 2007

Public Petitions Committee

TG.01

The Scottish Parliament

Holyrood

EH99 1SP

 

Dear Sir,

 

Consideration of Petition PE1068.

 

Thank you for your letter of 7 November 2007 and the opportunity to advise the committee on this matter.

 

I have enclosed the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland response to the petition, I trust that this will be of assistance to the committee when it next considers this petition. If the committee should require any more information regarding this matter or if it is felt that REHIS can assist with any petition in the future please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Kevin Freeman

Director of Professional Development

 

 

Consideration of Petition PE1068.

 

From reading the minutes of the previous discussions of the Committee there would appear to be two separate issues arising from this petition. Firstly that of the nuisance caused by pigeons kept in residential areas as pets or for racing and the nuisance caused by feral pigeons in the environment.

 

After much discussion at the recent meeting of the REHIS Public Health and Housing Working Group it was felt that although there are a regular small number of complaints about racing pigeon lofts there is usually little or no public health significance. In fact the general opinion of the group was that due to the value owners place on racing birds the lofts are, in the main, very well kept. There are of course exceptions to the rule, but it was felt that there is adequate legislation in place to deal with these when they arise.

 

Some individual cases were discussed and in particular the problem that pigeons will land on the highest point near the loft prior to entering the roost. In residential areas this can lead to the problem of increased fouling of neighbouring roofs. In one case this issue was resolved informally, with the owner of the loft agreeing to clean the affected neighbours gutter and roof on an ongoing and regular basis.

 

It was the overwhelming feeling of the group that feral pigeons and the feeding of them by the public causes many more problems. One local authority reported carrying out several major culls of pigeons in recent years in order to control the population, however these have proved only to be a short term resolution as the population only grows again after the cull.

 

The authority in question has investigated alternative ways of dealing with the issue of feral pigeon nuisance and is planning to implement a humane management system. This involves setting up a managed loft to which the pigeons are actively attracted. This approach would ensure that the dead birds and faeces could be removed and disposed of correctly, further it also allows for the control of the population by removing eggs from the roost. It should also be borne in mind that in order for this scheme to work it will require a significant education programme, firstly to advise businesses and owners of property of there obligations in relation to the installation of anti roosting measures and secondly informing the public of the implications of feeding feral pigeons.

 

The working group view was that it be accepted that it will never be possible to completely eradicate pigeons from the environment, even if society wanted this, but the authority hopes that a sustained and humane intervention such as this should result in long term control of the population.

 

 

The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (the Institute) has been in existence for over 125 years and has around 1,200 members the majority of whom are Environmental Health Officers working in that capacity for Scottish local authorities.

 

The objects for which the Institute is established are for the benefit of the community to promote the advancement of Environmental Health by:

 

• stimulating interest in and disseminating knowledge concerning Environmental Health;

 

• promoting education and training in matters relating to Environmental Health; and

 

• maintaining, by examination or otherwise, high standards of professional practice and conduct on the part of Environmental Health Officers in Scotland.

 

Environmental Health Officers in Scotland are part of a graduate only profession and by virtue of their under-pinning academic education, professional practical training, professional qualifications and experience are well placed to apply a holistic public health approach to the education of the public and to the enforcement of a wide range of environmental and public health legislation.

The Institute, which is Incorporated by Royal Charter, is an independent and self-financing organisation. It neither seeks nor receives grant aid. The Institute’s charitable activities are funded significantly by the subscriptions received from its members.

DPD/Consultations/07/042b

[wee eck]

Came home from work last night, opened the local free paper to find this load of crap printed in it, what with hawkes and cretins like our Mr Nash it does not paint a good picture of our feathered friends to the general public.

Hes obviously short of business as the article reads more like an advert for his pest control company than an unbiased peice of jornalism.

Anyway I think I will contact the newspaper and see if we are going to be given the right to reply, asuming we are what would you say are the 10 most important GOOD things we can say about our birds and hobby, I will start us off with-

 

They helped us win the war and saved thousands of lives in doing so !

 

sorry but i dont see where you are coming from everything the guy says about feral pigeons is spot on and the sooner councils get there act together and cull them the better for all concerned including the fancy

[walterbmasson]

RSPB WONT ALLOW MASS KILL ON FERAL PIGEONS ITS THE FOOD CHAIN FOR THE PERIGANS IN THE WINTER MONTHS WE SHOULD BE PUSHING FOR A MASS KILL ON THESE MESSY FILTH OFF OUR STREETS AND BUILDINGS

[Guest XANADU LOFTS]

IB - Thank you for your constructive reply,I think this is the sort of responce we need to be firing back with.

 

Wee eck - I did NOT say what he states about Ferals is not correct.

The point I am making is that articles like this tend to tar us all with the same brush as far as the general public are concerned.

In my opinion there needs to be far more POSATIVE press generated about our racing pigeons,articles that will show the public what a massive gap there is between a feral and a pedigree racing pigeon.

[wee eck]

IB - Thank you for your constructive reply,I think this is the sort of responce we need to be firing back with.

 

Wee eck - I did NOT say what he states about Ferals is not correct.

The point I am making is that articles like this tend to tar us all with the same brush as far as the general public are concerned.

In my opinion there needs to be far more POSATIVE press generated about our racing pigeons,articles that will show the public what a massive gap there is between a feral and a pedigree racing pigeon.

 

having read the article again i still cant see where racing pigeons are mentioned so still struggling to see that the article is bad press for racing and i did not comment on your thoughts on feral pigeons because i did not know what they were

[Guest XANADU LOFTS]

Wee eck - I think you are looking at this from the perspective of some one that knows the differece between a Feral and a racer, unfortunatly the vast majority of the general public DONT, so its bad press for Pigeons full stop.

[wee eck]

Wee eck - I think you are looking at this from the perspective of some one that knows the differece between a Feral and a racer, unfortunatly the vast majority of the general public DONT, so its bad press for Pigeons full stop.

we will just have to agree to disagree on this one-----i am right and your wrang :egyptian:

[Guest XANADU LOFTS]

wee eck if your just on here to try and wind me up, dont waste your time, bigger and better have tried and failed

and just for the record the last time I was wrong I was in junior school

[wee eck]

wee eck if your just on here to try and wind me up, dont waste your time, bigger and better have tried and failed

and just for the record the last time I was wrong I was in junior school

have you guys broken up for easter yet :egyptian: :egyptian:

[W.D.]

Is this the same guy who operates in Cheltenham too and was on radio 2's Jeremy Vine programme saying much the same thing a couple of years ago?

I was left with much the same impression as yourself in that he's only trying to scare people and drum up some business for himself.

Ok ferals can be a problem but if we didn't leave so much stuff behind for them to eat they would soon look elsewhere.

As for all the diseases they have some of the ones I've seen lately were much better looking than some seen put in a basket on a friday???!!!

[paullock]

sorry but i dont see where you are coming from everything the guy says about feral pigeons is spot on and the sooner councils get there act together and cull them the better for all concerned including the fancy

 

I agree, we have people in our club who have offered to cull the ferals in our local town and have been turned down by the council.

 

Paullock

[Guest IB]

I agree, we have people in our club who have offered to cull the ferals in our local town and have been turned down by the council.

 

Paullock

 

What seems to have been missed is a lot of people do get enjoyment feeding feral pigeons. Most of Europe's largest Squares are famous for their pigeons, and one London Mayor caused uproar when he tried to clear them from Trafalgar Square - Ken even tried to put it about that they could spread avian flu to the City.

 

Yes they are messy especially nest & roosting sites but these can be meshed-off. And yes, agree they need controlled, through (1) food sources - and here humans are more to blame than pigeons, and (2) breeding - and that's where the town loft would come into its own, nothing could be simpler and more humane than taking eggs away..

[wee eck]

What seems to have been missed is a lot of people do get enjoyment feeding feral pigeons. Most of Europe's largest Squares are famous for their pigeons, and one London Mayor caused uproar when he tried to clear them from Trafalgar Square - Ken even tried to put it about that they could spread avian flu to the City.

 

Yes they are messy especially nest & roosting sites but these can be meshed-off. And yes, agree they need controlled, through (1) food sources - and here humans are more to blame than pigeons, and (2) breeding - and that's where the town loft would come into its own, nothing could be simpler and more humane than taking eggs away..

while i dont disagree with the sentiment of your post i would still say more power to the elbow of anyone who wants to eradicate them quickly and humanely be they doing it as a business or not

[Guest XANADU LOFTS]

Just a quick update, I wrote to the paper concerned, and suprise! they printed my letter this week on their letters page.

[Guest IB]

Just a quick update, I wrote to the paper concerned, and suprise! they printed my letter this week on their letters page.

 

Well done Chris on getting a good letter published in newspaper - it's a lot harder than folk think.