Don't Feed The Pigeons

By Margaret Lyons in News on Dec 13, 2007 4:20PM

Aldermen Helen Schiller and Danny Solis introduced a measure yesterday that would make feeding pigeons illegal. And the punishment would be up to $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Their proposed legislation reads...

No person shall purposely provide food -- including, but not limited to grain, seeds, greens, bread crumbs and miscellaneous food scraps -- intended for pigeon ingestion on public property or property subject to the city right-of-way.

Solis says pigeons deuce everywhere, and that a well-fed pigeon can unleash 25 pounds of waste on the city a year. "It doesn't look good to have all of this fecal matter around a very beautiful monument," he said. For whatever it's worth, Alderman Solis, you could have ended that statement after "around." Monument, no monument; beautiful, not beautiful--not really the issue. (Or artists could start designing sculptures that need to be pooped on.)

Solis and Schiller say pigeons and rats go hand in hand--talon in paw?--and thus the birds pose a health risk to citizens. Looks like they won't be doin' the coo, coo pigeon any time soon.

Previously: You can't keep pigeons as pets, and no, feeding them isn't already illegal.

Image by Ankylosaur