Open Letter to New York City Councilmember Simcha Felder

The Humane Society of New York strongly requests that you withdraw your proposal to fine people for feeding pigeons in our city. While we support efforts to evaluate the pigeon population and its effects, we suggest that any solution to address the pigeon population be humane to the pigeons and the New Yorkers who appreciate these unfairly maligned birds. The maximum fine for a Class A misdemeanor is $1000 (section 80.05, Penal Law). Penalizing good-natured individuals who take pleasure in feeding birds, as if these people are criminals, is extreme. Rather, an advisory council should be established to make recommendations that consider the well-being of those New Yorkers who appreciate the birds, those who do not, and the birds themselves. A moderate approach might include, for example, birth control and habitat modification in certain areas.
Your report analogized the pigeon situation in New York City to that which existed in Trafalgar Square where feeding pigeons was a tourist attraction and where feeding was not only legal but actually encouraged. Thousands of birds in one location, landing on shoulders and heads, is not the situation in New York City. The same kind of drastic action to counteract decades of purposefully attracting pigeons in Trafalgar Square is not called for in our city. It is also important to note that even in your own paper, “Curbing the Pigeon Conundrum,” you mention that some of the more alarmist examples of danger that you raise, such as infrastructure damage and public health risks, are “widely exaggerated.”
Thus, as we see it, there is no immediate health threat or threat to our infrastructure. Rather, some people in our city dislike pigeons and consider them to be nuisances while others appreciate pigeons and some (far fewer in number) also enjoy feeding them. The issue then is how to reduce what some people believe to be nuisances created by pigeons in parts of our city. Recognizing that pigeons are not inanimate objects, any proposal affecting them must take into consideration the pigeons themselves. This may not seem important to those who disdain pigeons, but as a society that has laws to prohibit cruelty to all animals, including pigeons (section 353, Agriculture and Markets Law), and as a society that should promote compassion and tolerance, methods to deal with the pigeon population must be humane.
All too often people who dislike certain animals attempt to take the law into their own hands and abuse animals. We want to avoid this. The Humane Society of New York will support a dialogue among various groups interested in the “pigeon issue” in the hope of devising a plan to humanely control the pigeon population in certain areas of the city. In our opinion, people who feed pigeons within reason (not leaving excessive food behind) should not be treated as lawbreakers. There is so much garbage in this large city that one cannot blame the responsible pigeon feeders for the pigeon population. Small amounts of food fed to and immediately consumed by pigeons are not going to significantly affect the pigeon population. It is when people, whether they be those who like or dislike pigeons, act irresponsibly that problems are created.
We are calling for moderation and cooperation. At this juncture, we suggest that an advisory council be established to make suggestions for humane pigeon control where such control may be needed, not a heavy handed approach that will cause harm to animals and the people who care about them.

ACTION: Contact Councilmember Simcha Felder and ask that he withdraw his proposal to fine people for feeding pigeons.
District Office Address: 4424 16 th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11204
District Office Phone: 718-853-2704
District Office Fax: 718-853-3858
Legislative Office: 250 Broadway, 17 th Floor, New York, NY 10007
Legislative Office Phone: 212-788-7357
E-mail: felder@council.nyc.ny.us