Residents of Kidbrooke Village, SE3 have recently been informed of a planned pigeon cull in their neighbourhood.
The program of 'daily hawking, trapping and culling' will begin on the 29th of March and will also involve the killing of pigeons with air rifles.
Kidbrooke Village is managed by the Berkeley Group and Rendall and Rittner Property Management. Residents were not consulted on the decision and many are dismayed by the scheduled killing.
The planned use of air rifles is particularly disturbing to many locals as it is often an imprecise method that does not kill instantly. Similar culls using air rifles have seen the ground littered with wounded and bleeding pigeons. It is by no stretch of the imagination a humane death.
These plans are set to go ahead in spite of the overwhelming evidence suggesting that the culling of urban pigeons is ineffective - a band-aid that only reduces their population in the short-term. The size of pigeon flocks are dictated by the availability of food; any birds killed will therefore quickly be replaced. There is even some research to suggest that culls INCREASE flock sizes.
The Pigeon Control Advisory Service said of the ineffectiveness of culls; "A vast majority of those that come to us for advice have been sold lethal control services, in some cases for many years, without experiencing any relief as a result. The most common complaint that we receive is that the client experiences a reduction in bird-related problems for 4-6 weeks following a cull but thereafter the problem appears to return to its original proportion. The response from their contractor is that another cull will be required and this continues indefinitely until such a time as the client looks elsewhere for advice."
Unfortunately, the Berkeley Group and Rendall and Rittner's decision to trap and shoot birds is legal - but only after they have first exhausted non-lethal forms of pest control. Can they produce evidence of the non-lethal forms of deterrent they have exhausted so far, I wonder?
Please share this post and contact the Berkeley Group and Rendall and Rittner, who oversee the management of Kidbrooke Village, and urge them to cancel this pointless and cruel cull, and find a humane alternative. Please also sign the petition against the cull at https://bit.ly/3csw4ZN.
Rendall & Rittner
Twitter - https://twitter.com/rendallrittner
Email - Jamie.oloughlin@rendallandrittner.co.uk, office@rendallandrittner.co.uk
Phone - 020 3764 5587
Berkeley Group
Facebook - https://m.facebook.com/Berkeley-Group-1183410411769830/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/berkeleygroupuk
Phone - 020 7601 7300
Sign the petition - https://bit.ly/3csw4ZN