PiCAS UK (the Pigeon Control Advisory Service, UK Division) has today condemned the actions of the group calling itself Regenesis, based in Leamington Spa after it was revealed that Regenesis staff trapped and caught an undisclosed number of feral pigeons and caged them in a dovecote facility they provided. This barbaric action will have caused extreme and unnecessary suffering. Pigeons mate for life and breed all year round and therefore some, if not all of the pigeons caught will have been split from their life-long partners and will have certainly have had dependant young in nests. These young birds will have starved to death.

It is the view of PiCAS UK that the RSPCA should be considering a prosecution against Regenesis on the grounds of causing unnecessary suffering.

Not only this but the scheme implemented by Regenesis apparently based on the PiCAS model of pigeon control has been a complete failure due to the fact that Regenesis refused to be guided and take advice from PiCAS UK, the experts.

PiCAS UK wishes to disassociate itself with Regenesis and from this poorly thought out and badly executed control programme. Had Regenesis taken heed of the advice of PiCAS UK in the same way that Surrey Heath Borough Council (in Camberley) has done, Leamington Spa would now have a highly effective and humane pigeon control programme that would have reduced and stabilised pigeon numbers in the town without causing unnecessary suffering or wasting public money, as Regenesis has done.

In what Regenesis has hailed as a major programme to reduce the flock, experts at the internationally renowned Pigeon Control Advisory Service (UK Division) are horrified by the amount of suffering that would have taken place. Emma Haskell, Director of PiCAS UK, said: “We are absolutely disgusted at the level of cruelty that has been associated with this programme and the unparalleled level of incompetence demonstrated by the Regenesis Group.”

For more information on PiCAS UK visit the website at www.picasuk.com or contact Emma Haskell on 02392 583540 or 07903 011715

PiCAS UK (the Pigeon Control Advisory Service, UK Division) has today condemned Argyle Civic Association, based in Hollywood, USA for agreeing to undertake a pilot programme to put resident feral pigeon flocks on the contraceptive pill. Pigeon flock size is currently maintained by the huge volumes of food provided by some residents who are feeding the birds every day; Argyle Civic Association hopes to reduce the artificially high number of pigeons in the neighbourhood by taking this action.

To read the full story please visit PiCAS UKs PRESS RELEASE [PDF, 104KB]. 

Eleven pigeons fanciers from the USA face prison sentences after being charged with shooting, beating and suffocating dozens of protected hawks and falcons in an effort to protect their birds during racing events.  One of the accused even admitted spraying the falcons that he had caught in traps with bleach and ammonia.  The combination of these chemicals causes chlorine gas to be created so the falcons would have eventually died of suffocation after having experienced extreme pain for some considerable time before death. 

The charged men also admitted clubbing falcons to death in cages and shooting the birds with pellet guns.  Some of the men also admitted shooting hawks and falcons with shotguns.  One defendent even admitted to keeping a bucket full of talons cut from the hawks and falcons that he had trapped and slaughtered.

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On April 18th 2007 the town of Manlleu in Catalunya, Northern Spain will officially launch it’s pigeon control programme in association with PiCAS Espania.  The scheme will see a tailor-made dovecotes, alongside designated feeding areas, provided within the town in an effort to control and reduce pigeon numbers.

PiCAS Espania’s team of experts has been working alongside Manlleu Council to provide this unique and humane pigeon management system that will see pigeon feeders and those wishing to engage with the birds using a specially provided feeding area designated within one of the town’s green areas.  It is hoped that those members of the public that currently feed pigeons within the town, causing problems for many of the town’s property owners, can be persuaded to use the designated feeding site.  Once pigeons are attracted to the feeding area it is hoped that the birds will take up residence in one of the two specially provided dovecotes.  Their eggs will then be removed, as laid, and substituted with dummy eggs, thereby causing no harm or distress to the birds.

The official launch of the programme will take place on April 18th and will be well publicised in advance.  This will be the first humane pigeon control programme provided in Spain that is based on the PiCAS model.  Further news of this forthcoming event will be available on the PiCAS International website closer to the launch date. 

Bath Chronicle: 02/03/07

By: Polly March

GROUP CONDEMN USING HAWK TO CULL SEAGULLS

Plans to bring in a hawk to control Bath’s gull population have been condemned by wildlife groups.

The Pigeon Control Advisory Service UK (Picas UK) has said a council plan to unleash the bird of prey to patrol the city’s skies will lead to unnecessary wildlife death and is a waste of public money.

Avon Wildlife Trust also attacked the idea unveiled by Bath and North East Somerset Council last week, saying Nick the Harris Hawk will do no damage to the city’s gull population. Picas UK claims the hawk will attack indiscriminately, ripping his live prey and other birds apart in mid-air.

They cited a similar operation launched to cope with Nottingham’s pigeon plague, saying the hawk was seen butchering birds by members of the public, although the city council there said reports were never substantiated.

"Bath and North East Somerset Council has suggested their gull control programme will, among other things, be humane," said Picas UK director Emma Haskell.

"If the council continues to employ falconers to fly Harris Hawks in the city, the word humane cannot, under any circumstances, be used to describe what residents and visitors to the city will witness."

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In addition to our recent news on Bath City Council Gull Control PiCAS UK  has responded with its own press release.

Download a PDF vesion of the press release HERE (48kb).

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 3rd January 2007

PRAISE FOR SURREY HEATH COUNCIL OVER PIGEON CONTROL PROGRAMME

The Pigeon Control Advisory Service, UK Division (PiCAS UK), part of the internationally renowned PiCAS Group and the leading authority on bird control worldwide, today praised Surrey Heath Borough Council for their humane pigeon control initiative.

In 2001 PiCAS UK met with representatives of both Surrey Heath Borough Council (SHBC) and Camberley and District Animal Welfare Group (CDAWG) to advise on the provision of a humane and effective pigeon control programme for Camberley Town Centre. PiCAS UK advised a system that has been used to great effect in towns and cities worldwide but which, at the time, had not been trialed by any other local authority in the UK.

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Consultancy Pulls Out of Pigeon Control Programme

The Pigeon Control Advisory Service International (PiCAS International) wishes to confirm that it has formally extricated itself as Melbourne City Council’s (CoM) chosen consultant for the proposed city-wide pigeon control programme. After a 2-year partnership with the CoM, PiCAS International has been forced to take this difficult decision based on seemingly irresolvable issues relating to the implementation of the programme.

PiCAS International was invited to visit Melbourne at the invitation of the CoM in June 2004 to advise the City Council on various non-lethal means of controlling the city’s growing pigeon population. A report was provided to the CoM following the visit which laid out the options available to the CoM. The CoM agreed to work in partnership with PiCAS International in an effort to provide a non-violent, sustainable and publicly acceptable pigeon control system based on the PiCAS model.

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