Press
The planned killing of Limburg’s city pigeons has been causing a stir for months. Now, surprisingly, a new alternative has emerged for some of the animals.
Limburg/Eslarn – After months of fuss about the planned killing of the animals, a gentler solution is now emerging for some of Limburg’s city pigeons: The Gut Aiderbichl animal protection association has offered to pick up 200 pigeons from Limburg “and let them continue to live far away so that they do not fly back to Limburg,” the city announced.
“We will gladly accept this offer as a much milder option than killing,” said Mayor Marius Hahn (SPD). Representatives of the Limburg city pigeon project said they had taken note of the city’s announcement and would discuss it before commenting on it.
Limburgers voted overwhelmingly for pigeon killing
Most recently, the majority of Limburg voters voted in a referendum to implement a city council resolution from November last year, according to which the pigeon population should be decimated by killing them.
The city announced that the topic had brought Limburg numerous negative headlines and hundreds of letters. The senders had expressed their horror, disappointment, incomprehension and in some cases even threats. Such hostility was repeatedly directed against Hahn himself, against voluntary elected representatives and against employees of the administration.
New home for Limburg pigeons in Bavaria
The Gut Aiderbichl animal protection association, which operates a number of animal sanctuaries in several European countries, has offered to take in and house the 200 pigeons from Limburg at one of its home farms in Eslarn (Bavaria) in the Upper Palatinate. The city’s task is to catch the pigeons and house them in a way that is appropriate for animal welfare until they are transported away, which will take place in two or three trips.
While Gut Aiderbichl would cover the transport and accommodation costs for the animals, the city would have to cover the costs of catching and caring for the pigeons until they are transported. A new building is to be opened on the farm in Eslarn, which was specially designed for keeping pigeons in a species-appropriate manner. “We are very pleased that we can now give 200 of the Limburg pigeons a “forever home” with us at Gut Aiderbichl,” explained Dieter Ehrengruber, managing director of Gut Aiderbichl, according to the statement.
Hahn also expressed the hope that among the many animal and pigeon conservationists who have contacted the city since November last year, “there are also some who will take in additional pigeons from Limburg as soon as possible.” Some time ago, a count and projection showed that up to 700 pigeons live in Limburg. The declared goal is a population of around 300 animals, it was said. Ideally, this could be achieved without killing them. dpa
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