Of Pigeons And Compassion

Pigeon House in U.K.

59 species of pigeons and doves are currently threatened with extinction, mainly due to human activity.

As a species, we have become alienated from nature even though we remain a part of it. Look at our history and there’s no doubt that we insist on dominating every creature on earth. Perhaps that is why there is an “anti-pigeon” movement throughout the U.S.

Hostility against this bird – so closely related to the dove of peace - has been growing. Fears are nurtured by pest control companies with an obvious goal in mind: profitable contracts.

Despised to the point of being poisoned with Avitrol, the same birds that were our allies in carrying messages to troops during WWII are treated by many as our vilest enemies.

Those who feed pigeons are increasingly harassed with new laws forbidding them from doing so and, sometimes, more extreme measures as described in the essay, Pigeon Wars, from which the following is an excerpt:

Citizens began ratting out feeders, sending Haag-Wackernagel names and the locations where they were regularly found. People began accosting feeders on the street, shaming them.

“Although we certainly did not condone extreme action,” he writes, “in one case a pigeon feeder was even physically attacked.”

One elderly man, perhaps finding no safe place left to feed pigeons outside, began luring them in through his apartment window. He was evicted.

Can it be because pigeons, unlike any other creature, have adapted to urban life and beat us at our own game? The ultimate urbanite couch potatoes, they may show us too clearly how alienated we’ve become.

Humorous, ironic and eye-opening, Pigeon Wars is a story about pigeons and compassion that may give us some answers about where we want to go from here:

http://www.freewebs.com/brokenwingpigeonworld/pigeonwars.htm

There’s no doubt that thousands of pigeons in a city create a mess. Yet, does killing them, and hunting down those who feed them, help us become who we want to be?

If in doubt, pray to act in right action toward the creatures of the world for, in God, we are one with all creatures.

Dear God,

Help me feel my connection to nature and all animal life. Guide me in right action toward the creatures of this world, not just to what is expedient for my convenience. Because everything I do in this world, even to the lowliest creature, I do to you. Amen.

“God created every living creature. . .” Genesis 1:21

“Let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.” Jonah 3:8

Be Sociable, Share!

•