Bad pigeon column in NY Post

[fred2344]

Cindy,
Here is the link to the entire article: http://www.nypost.com/seven/10212002...tary/60153.htm

[AZWhitefeather]

Thank you so much Fred.
Cindy

[Aussdave]

Well done Fred and John. I just read the article (thanks Cindy) and your replies were spot on. I hope your letters inspire the writer of the article to learn a little more about our friends before he writes such ignorant misinformation.

David

[bigbird]

Yes, well done John and Fred.
You both have a handle on the real problems here.
Thanks so much.
Regards,
Carl

[fred2344]

Folks,
I'm pushing this post up to the top because it is very important for as many of you as possible to send this reporter an email. He is in a position to influence readers in a very negative way.
Please consider emailing this man.

[aloft]

I just sent an e-mail to G. Kuntzman in reference to the outrageous article he published in The New York Post. Here it is:

Mr. Kuntzman,

I am a newyorker, like yourself, a simple hardworking citizen and a regular reader of the New York Post. I have always considered your newspaper as a reliable source of information about the life of our metropolis in different respects... Well, not any more after reading the article you published in the Monday issue under the title "Too Bad Pigeons Don't Poop Out". Whether the negative opinion you have expressed about our city's pigeons originates in another source, which might have inspired you to write what you did, or it simply is your own, it's hard to tell. What it's very easy to tell, instead, it is the lack of knowledge about these special birds, which transpires from the lines of your article. You claim that you love animals, even birds, as pigeons, but not the city's pigeons. May I ask you why? The city's pigeons are innocent animals like any other being on this planet. Oh, I see you don't like how they look... and "the danger they pose to our inhabitants" looks like it became your only preoccupation when it comes to talk about them... By any chance, can you please tell me who brought these tender birds in the almost desperate situation they are in right now, birds whose history goes back like 200 million years ago? What did the human civilization for them? And what do the cities around the world, ours included, for them, other than poisoning and killing them? These birds have been turned into the paria of the city's wildlife by people, namely by the ignorant and selfish ones, by that kind of people who would eventually take care only of a dog or a cat even better than of a child, by people who wouldn't care to spend a few bucks a week and buy one or two bags of seeds and offer them to these needy animals we call pigeons... If every resident of this city would care to spend at least one dollar a day for seeds, what a big difference this would make... But it looks that this can't be anythingelse but a dream which will never come true...
As I work in Manhattan, I can rarely see someone feeding these birds. I can see instead a growing number of dog owners (I love dogs enormously, make no mistake) walking their dear pets through the streets and avenues of our great city and sometimes willingly letting their leashes loose and having them chasing the pigeons who might be desperately busy pecking on some "dirty fries", like you said. Have you ever watched a cruel scene like this in Manhattan? Also, did it ever happen to you to meet people in the streets of our city, getting out of their minds and grinding the seeds under the soles of their shoes, screaming like enraged animals and cursing at people like myself, like us, whenever they are seen offering seeds to the pigeons? Well, I did witnessed scenes like the one mentioned above. And I have the feeling the number of these city wildlife haters might increase, after your article saw the daylight.
I just gave you a couple of modest examples as to what this city "does" in order to improve the pigeons' life. People spend fortunes on buying dog and cat food, but so little for bird food... It is sad... It is outrageous... And it seems that the ignorance is growing bigger and the hatred against these special birds as well.
I would like to ask you: Have you ever had a bird pet, eventually a pigeon? I don't think so. I have one. It is a pigeon I found in the street, injured by an irresponsible driver, by a cruel human being who doesn't care about other forms of life and whose life is revolving only around issues like money, food, pleasures, etc, people whose lives are empty and meaningless, as empty as the skies would be without pigeons flying towards them. By the way, have you ever tried to figure out how the skies would look without them up there? I guess not.

Mr. Kuntzman, try to take your eyes, for a minute, off the lines you are writing in order to make a living and make your newspaper look good and aim high into the skies of our city and look at the wonderful flight of the pigeons, those who can eventually dedicate some time to flying, after having had the chance to catch some seeds offered by people like me and my friends. And after you do that, try to look down into the street, from the window of your office, right at the other pigeons who don't have time to even look into the skies, as they are trying to desperately find something to eat. Look at the hungry and sick ones, look at those run over by beasts behind the steering wheels, look at those who didn't ever have a chance to peck a seed offered by a human being... And while looking down into the street, you might see me feeding the pigeons. And if you will eventually see me cursed at by other people, for feeding the pigeons, next thing you do, just look at their faces towards which I will throw a handfull of seeds so they can taste them, eventually.

You reffer to the pigeons as "flying rats"? What about other kinds of rats, which are distroying flora and fauna on this planet?... What are pigeons destroying? What are they doing wrong so that you decided to apply them another unfair blow?

I would be really happy to see you writing a new article about the city's pigeons, one that would be based on a thorough observation and accurate scientific information on these lovely birds. In the meantime I don't think I would bother reading "The New York Post" any more... Instead I will use that time to better care of the injured and sick pigeons I love and feed them whenever and wherever I can. And so will do all my friends who love these wonderful birds.

Regards,

Ely

[fred2344]

Ely,
Wonderful letter!!!!!!

[fred2344]

I belong to a pigeon rescue group in Yahoo called fprc. I crossposted the article to that group and one of the members sent the following letter to Mr. Kuntzman:

Dear Mr. Kuntzman:
I am a woman who has been married to a man that has had fancy pigeons all but 2 years of his life. He is 52. We have raised many birds and farm animals. I have yet to find any bird or animal that is what you call dirty or disease carrying. We have never caught anything from our pigeons.
You are more apt to catch a disease from the person sitting next to you than you will from pigeons. Many people have a dog or cat and little do they realize what they can get from them. A few are Rabies, Rocky Mountain Spotted fever from ticks, Toxoplasmosis( a single cell parasite that causes flu like symptoms. Roundworm, Ringworm, and Mange.
Horses.Lymes disease, Equine Encephalomyelitis, Leptospirosis.
Cattle, sheep, goats etc...... all can carry a zoonotic disease. So are we to eradicate all animals on this earth so we humans can feel safe from these zoonotic disease's that we may catch anyway from the dirt we walk on. Are we to kill all the wild animals?
In most cases it is the humans that create the circumstance for diseases.
The ground is full of disease we humans can acquire. Our drinking water is treated and tested constantly for disease's we could be ingesting from the cup of water we get out of our water taps.
When you wake up in the morning believe me you are confronted with billions of germs that you yourself create in your own home from all the waste you create starting from the bathroom to the kitchen. But you know what. Your immune system generally kicks in and keeps you healthy.
If pigeons were as dirty as you perceive them to be why then are there not thousands conflicted with disease's from pigeons on a daily bases.
You are more apt to get sick from the meats, vegetables and fruits you eat everyday then you are from a disease from birds and animals.
It is what we humans have done that that cause disease 's and disorder's in many cases.
We all have to live in this world and to cull out anything can cause more hurt than we realize. We are all a part of the Eco system.
God created humans and animals. We are all here for a purpose and it is not to mane and kill but how we go about taking care of our world.
Before you write anything about pigeons, I think you should find out more about what you face in your own home and the disease's and disorder's you are creating for our feathered friends. Pigeons have existed with humans for thousands of years. Where there was seed, there were birds and pigeons of many kinds.
Please tell me what is the difference between the band-tail pigeon and the common pigeon in New York. I can tell you there is none. They are all pigeons.
Do you know who Cher Ami was? He was a pigeon that saved the New York battalion of the 77th division October 27th, 1918. They had advanced to far into enemy territory and they were completely surrounded by the enemy. They had released several pigeons but they were all shot down before they could get up in the air. Cher Ami was their last pigeon and their last hope. As Cher Ami circled to make his way home he was hit with shrapnel. The leg with the message attached to had been almost severed from the body and had tore his chest open . This pigeon made it to his home in 25 min and saved these men from certain death. Cher Ami body is on exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution, US National Museum, Washington DC along with many other famous PIGEONS. I Love all birds but PIGEONS are my favorite.
Why don't you come to the pigeon shows and see for yourself. A pigeon is a pigeon

[critrman]

I too shall write to this (I use the term loosely) gentleman...however the excelent letters already written, could they not be sent directly to the NY Post? I saw an e-mail or site on the bottom of the article that Cindy sent....lets hit him at both ends...himself and the Post...I am going to try.

Mark

[fred2344]

First of all folks, thank you for your support.
The only answer people seem to come up with in order to control animal populations they see as pests is to kill. We can send
spacecraft beyond the boundaries of our solar system but can't come up with anything better than murder at home.
This particular reporter wrote an article without thinking outside the box. He didn't think at all. People read what columnists write and are influenced by what they have to say. This was very damaging and I'm sure there will be repercussions even worse than what is happening now.
Folks, you may or may not have the same stereotype of the pigeon that has been handed down from generation to generation but they are old wife tales. This bird is in trouble. They are poisoned, tortured and in general, greatly misunderstood. The fact is that they are very intelligent. Pigeons have been taught to recognize the
alphabet. They have been taught how to recognize different pictures from two different classical artists. Because they are the only other bird besides parrots to feed their young with a crop milk, the
pigeon is considered to possibly be the ancestor of the parrot. As long as we continue to have such a terrible attitude towards the pigeon, we do not learn to respect all life on this planet and you
all know what is happening around the globe. The pigeon has therefore become the symbol to me of a world gone mad and hell bent on destroying the entire environment.
I'm asking you to please take a stand on this issue because this is more expansive than just the pigeon. Please send off an email to the columnist at the email listed on the bottom of the post that gave you the article that was written. Please vote for sanity.


------------------
"Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."

Albert Schweitzer

[This message has been edited by fred2344 (edited October 23, 2002).]

[fred2344]

Mark,
If you send a letter to the editor, the message has to be no more than 200 words. If you send an email directly to the columnist, it can be any length.
I sent a letter to the editor and to the columnist. I had a rough time keeping the one to the editor less than 200 words.

[Afra]

Fred,

I am so sad and upset about this that I am finding a hard time trying to find the right words to put in my own letter. I tried to write one yesterday, but deleted it, as it didn't really reflect the anger and frustration I feel. I am the type of person that can't think straight when sad and upset. My hand shakes and I write sloppily. Maybe when I regain more strength and composure, I may find the right words to say. As of right now, I don't even have the strength to say or even write Kuntzman's name. I don't even want to hear it right now.

[fred2344]

Afra,
Don't write anything. I understand how you are feeling. This man represents the majority of ignorant people out there who haven't been raised to appreciate the value of all life. We do and are much more sensitized to the horrors we see around us.
I'll be honest with you and say that nothing much is going to happen because some people wrote letters. We wrote to make sure that each of us understands we are not part of the problem but part of a possible solution. We try to set an example of what humanity should be, not what it is.
If this columnist can walk past a sick or injured animal of any kind, do you really think we are going to change his mind?
The letters that went out are from people who see the harsh reality of the world and your letter will not go out because you too, see the same thing. It's a very difficult situation to deal with and whether you write or don't write, you too, are part of the solution. I hope you understand what I am trying to say.
What matters is the way you live your life and the choices you make. You're doing fine.

[Afra]

Thanks. At least I hope that the letters of those who HAVE written will produce a happy change for these poor birds. I wish Kuntzman would put himself in the shoes of these birds and see if he would like to be treated as they are being treated. Maybe then he'll change his mind.

[John_D]

Just wondering...I am not a member of PETA, and I don't know how they stand with pigeon people....but that article (particularly the quote from a distasteful Tom Lehrer 'song') is, as I said in my letter to NY Post, inciting people to abuse of pigeons and worse. PETA are, as far as I know, dead against mistreatment of any animal life. Any ideas there?

John