debile.net

Considering that I chose a pigeon as the mascot for my website, this should probably have been the first post I published here. I want to relay a 2012 article from La Terre d'abord ! titled "The daily pain of pigeons with wires on their legs".

Pigeons, like horses, share a long history with humans. Both were bred by them: one for transport and the other for communication. They served well and were later made obsolete by technology. Yet, only one remains respected as a noble companion of humankind. The other was nicknamed a "flying rat" and treated as vermin. Acts of cruelty toward it are taught from childhood. Have you ever tried to kick a horse?

People are often disgusted by pigeons because they see their necrotic legs and immediately assume that they carry dangerous diseases. But these wounds are caused by human hair and other fibrous waste left in the streets or mixed with alimentary scraps where pigeons forage for food. These fibers, tangled around their limbs, act like a tourniquet and cut off blood flow, causing necrosis. The affected parts swell, double in volume, darken and eventually rot. The pain is, as we can imagine, unbearable, and the sight revolting. But necrosis is not contagious.

If you want to help a pigeon, La Terre d'abord suggests feeding it and trying to catch it while it's busy eating. Hold its wings against its body, never holding it by its extremities, which could cause injury. Then, using a precise tool such as nail scissors, cut the threads tangled around its feet.

Save a pigeon. They shit on statues, but you shit in drinkable water.