pigeon ban

[tatts]

here's something I've read
tatts.
Racing pigeons are kept grounded
Court denies appeal by club of city ban

By Charles Sheehan
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 24, 2005
A federal appeals court ruling this week clipped the hopes of Chicago pigeon
racers who said a city law banning pet pigeons was unconstitutional.

On Thursday, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge upheld an earlier
District Court court ruling that found the city was within its rights to ban
racing pigeons as pets.

Members of one of the nation's oldest racing clubs were crestfallen Friday.

The case pitted the property rights of the 70 or so members of Chicago's
pigeon-racing club, the Greater Chicago Combine and Center, against those of
neighbors who complained of scattered feathers, excessive cooing and
droppings.

"We're not hurting anybody," said Karl Wollenhaupt, secretary and treasurer
for the group. "This sport has been in existence for hundreds of years, but
the city says these birds are bad, dirty and evil. These are birds of
pedigree."

Chicago is the only large American city with a total ban on homing pigeons,
officials with the national American Racing Pigeon Union said.

"That's terrible," Executive Director Karen Clifton said. "Chicago is the
only city that has ever put us through this."

The organization lobbies on behalf of birders nationwide. Its officials came
to Chicago in 2003 to speak with aldermen and issue information packets on
bird racing.

The City Council voted 48-0 to approve the ban, exempting Lincoln Park Zoo
and the zoo at Indian Boundary Park.

Other large cities have set limits on the number of birds or have required
screenings to monitor disease, Clifton said.

Ald. Thomas Allen (38th) sponsored the ban two years ago, prompted by
complaints that birders attached large lofts to garages and houses on lots
that were only 30 feet by 125 feet.

He did not return calls Friday. The city's Law Department was closed Friday.

In supporting the earlier court decision, U.S. District Judge Harry
Leinenweber ruled that raising homing pigeons "is not a fundamental right."

"While housing pigeons in rural areas, for example, may be a perfectly
unobtrusive endeavor, it is at least conceivable that the feathers,
droppings, odor and noise generated by kept pigeons in tight, urban lots
would be an untenable nuisance to residential neighbors," Leinenweber wrote.

A judge placed a stay on a similar case making its way through Cook County
Circuit Court pending the outcome of the federal appeal, meaning there are
other legal routes for the birders to follow, said Lisa Ligas, an attorney
for the bird club.

[Trees Gray]

Hi tatts,

Here is another thread dealing with the same topic:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=13225

Thank you for sharing

[Charlie's Roost]

Aw, man. This even made it all the way down here to Texas! It was just a few paragraphs:

Court upholds Pigeon Ban

Chicago (AP) -- A federal appeals court has upheld the city's ban on pet racing pigeons, rejecting claims by some enthusiasts that the ordinance is unconstitutional.

The ban makes Chicago the only large U.S. city that outlaws pet pigeons, according to the American Racing Pigeon Union. The pigeons coo excessively and scatter feathers and droppings, proponents of the ban said.

Um, ok. What about all of the wild pigeons out there? Don't they do more harm than the pet ones who are actually in coops and cared for? Or am I just crazy in my thinking?

[ZigZagMarquis]

CHICAGO, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A federal judge has ruled that Chicago's ban on keeping racing pigeons is constitutional.

Thursday's decision disappointed members of the Greater Chicago Combine and Center, the city's pigeon-fancier group.

"We're not hurting anybody," Karl Wollenhaupt, the secretary and treasurer, told the Chicago Tribune. "This sport has been in existence for hundreds of years, but the city says these birds are bad, dirty and evil. These are birds of pedigree."

The city adopted the ban in 2003, responding to complaints of huge lofts for racing pigeons added to houses on narrow lots and of feathers and other pigeon debris scattered through neighborhoods. The American Racing Pigeon Club said that the city is the only one in the country with a total ban, although some have limits on numbers and requirements of monitoring for disease.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber found that keeping pigeons is "not a fundamental right."

[Lady Tarheel]

That is just so sad. Maggie

[Al & Bobby]

There's still some wiggle room, i was told by an ARPU member.

The campaign could use the help of people who rescue feral pigeons. Any people here in the Chicago area who would do that?

Any stories of what you did when the law first was proposed 2 years ago?

My idea is to work with the ARPU to get more people writing letters or bringing publicity. We should have gotten into it here in the beginning. I wish i knew about the problem then.

[mr squeaks]

Unfortunately, with seeming unrestricted growth and more crowded conditions occurring all over the country, this type of announcement may become much more frequent!

Too bad, mankind can't do something about restricting HIS growth!

[andinla]

when we are all told that we may not have birds on our own property. Especially a pigeon(s). The bird flu is not helping our pigeon friends at all .

Andi

[Camrron]

That is indeed an interesting point Andi and I think you are perceptive in seeing how the future may play out. When the plague struck London in the Middle ages the majority of cats and dogs in the city at the time were exterminated because it was believed they carried the plague virus. Of course we now know it was the rats who carried fleas that caused the trouble but the point is, ignorance can bring a lot of us to grief and a lot of our feathered friends to a bad end if it ever happens again. Hopefully it never will happen but who knows eh?


Cameron