An idea

[little bird]

The price of feeding the meat eating creatures in the sanctuaries in this country and no doubt, no cheaper in Canada, is mind boggling. To gas these birds and bury them in a landfill is totally wasteful and in my mind... sinful! Arrangements should be made to donate the bodies to the sanctuaries.

[spirit wings]

I would not feed a gased pigeon or gased anything to a bird of prey or prey animal...there would be a risk of the gas affecting the consumer.....maybe they could use something mechanical that they use at chickern farms to kill them, but then more cost.....??????

[gingerpoo]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

While the entire concept of what Gingerpoo suggests is abhorrent to all of us who love pigeons..

....... i love pigeons as well??
i'm just trying to be realistic and have some compassion at the same time.

and the feeding of birds euthanized with Co2 will not cause any ill affects to the next animal eating it. And there's obviously no issue with Argon, Oxygen and Nitrogen since they will occasionally use it as part of the poultry production process, poultry which we eat.

Originally Posted by spirit wings

maybe they could use something mechanical that they use at chickern farms to kill them, but then more cost.....???

most of the time those 'mechanical' devices used in poultry are grinders and crushers where the birds are put through alive. Euthanasia by intravenous injection would obviously be the most humane but it is also the most expensive by far.

I love all birds with every ounce of my heart, and my number one concern is their well being. No animal should ever deserve to suffer, and I wouldnt feel right releasing one that doesnt know how to fend for itself and would likely starve or be eaten by a predator. Most of the birds that we are talking about are being culled by the thousands and being disposed of, because they have no market, all im saying is instead of dumping them in the landfill donate them to a animal rehab center.

Another thing to consider is the impact releasing who knows how many hundreds of thousands of birds will have on the rest of the ecosystem. theres already a balance with how many animals:food there is out there.. and Avitrol must be having a hayday. just something i've been thinking about.

[little bird]

Originally Posted by spirit wings

I would not feed a gased pigeon or gased anything to a bird of prey or prey animal...there would be a risk of the gas affecting the consumer.....maybe they could use something mechanical that they use at chickern farms to kill them, but then more cost.....??????

I have been told that carbon-monoxide would be very humane. The birds would faint and then die ... no pain or fear. The remains would be totally safe for other animals to consume ... sanctuary meat eating critters .... who are often now fed on chicken.

[Charis]

Gingerpoo...what you are suggesting is totally practical/ logical and I understand it on an intellectual level however, it's a real stretch for the emotional part of me to embrace.
I do think that if this is something you feel strongly about, you should take it to the next level by contacting whomever might implement your idea.
We can debate it here until long after the poor birds are dead and ultimately such debate means nothing because it's not up to us to decide the out come. All we can do is assist with the birds that show up on someones door step... or window ledge ...or garage... or barn starving and needing help.

[gingerpoo]

you're very true about what can be done from our side. my only thought was maybe someone trying to figure out what to do with their birds might stumble upon this idea as well.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by gingerpoo

....... i love pigeons as well??
i'm just trying to be realistic and have some compassion at the same time.

and the feeding of birds euthanized with Co2 will not cause any ill affects to the next animal eating it. And there's obviously no issue with Argon, Oxygen and Nitrogen since they will occasionally use it as part of the poultry production process, poultry which we eat.



most of the time those 'mechanical' devices used in poultry are grinders and crushers where the birds are put through alive. Euthanasia by intravenous injection would obviously be the most humane but it is also the most expensive by far.

I love all birds with every ounce of my heart, and my number one concern is their well being. No animal should ever deserve to suffer, and I wouldnt feel right releasing one that doesnt know how to fend for itself and would likely starve or be eaten by a predator. Most of the birds that we are talking about are being culled by the thousands and being disposed of, because they have no market, all im saying is instead of dumping them in the landfill donate them to a animal rehab center.

Another thing to consider is the impact releasing who knows how many hundreds of thousands of birds will have on the rest of the ecosystem. theres already a balance with how many animals:food there is out there.. and Avitrol must be having a hayday. just something i've been thinking about.

that is good news to hear that it would be safe for the consumer....I had asked the vet I worked for if she would feed a prey animal a "gased" dead one and she said she would not,prob because of liablity just in case it did cause ill effect...I like to hear about solutions and think you have done a good job of putting the idea out there...I also have enojoyed this discussion......Rome was'nt buldt in a day......

[little bird]

Originally Posted by gingerpoo

my only thought was maybe someone trying to figure out what to do with their birds might stumble upon this idea as well.

AMEN, gingerpoo!!

[Maggie-NC]

LOL gingerpoo, I was not criticizing you in any way. I expect I worded it clumsily but I meant that all of us who love pigeons would hate for them to die, but if they must be slaughtered, I would rather have their carcasses used to save other animals/birds than to be thrown in a dumpster or burned. I support the concept but I hope it does not come to this. My apologies.

[kippermom]

When we sense that we are losing a horse, or have to put one down, we contact a local lion sanctuary that will retrieve the body right after the horse has passed....it's just good husbandry.

[Noisy_minor]

This is the first time ive read this post and i dont think its a bad idea at all. just the first post needed to be worded a little better.

"spiritwings" all "feeder" animals bred to feed other animals are gassed with Co2, which is a natural occuring gas in our bodies, and the environment and simply puts the animal to sleep. and the mechanical devises used to kill chickens for our consumption, are anything but humane. im not going to go into that but if you look on you tube youll find it.

the reptile hobby is also another industry that is growing rapidly and has a constant demand for feed animals. although rats and mice are usually the first preferance as the supply goes down in the warm season the price goes up. there are many reptile owners that would be interested in PKI birds if they were euthanasied humanly and were sold at a price which would compeat with other food sources.

we need to remember these birds were bred to be eaten, and wasting thousands of birds because all of a sudden the $$$$ are gone, is an absolute disgrace.

as animals lovers it is hard sometimes to think about such things and i hope this post does not upset anyone.

[AGSG]

Why Does Everybody Want To Kill Agsg Banded Pigeons Are They Bad Or Something And Most Of The Time Agsg Birds Are Rollers And Tipplers Correct Me If I Am Wrong.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by AGSG

Why Does Everybody Want To Kill Agsg Banded Pigeons Are They Bad Or Something And Most Of The Time Agsg Birds Are Rollers And Tipplers Correct Me If I Am Wrong.

No body WANTS to kill these birds. Not anyone here on our forum anyway. There's just so many of them, 10's of 1000's............that the people who got "stuck" with them have no way to feed them and care for them. Just imagine having to feed 2 or 3 or 4000 pigeons. Sometimes even more than that. I sure can't even begin to imagine what that would cost.

[Jay3]

Originally Posted by Georgina

I can see where gingerpoo's coming from too, the wording just wasn't great in the first post!

When I had my small bird avairy in my old house, I had so many birds that I'd often loose one to the weather or illness etc. It got to the point after 11 years that I'd run out of space to bury the poor things. I didn't want to risk digging up one that had been decomposing for a while because that'd be pretty gross! I started putting them under a bush out of sight for our badger friend to... uhhh... snack on (for want of a better description). It worked out ok, and I felt the birds wouldn't mind if they knew

I now live 200 meters from a zoo (the Isle of Wight tiger sanctuary) and they often have donations of peoples pet sheep/ponies/rabbits etc that the owners can't dispose of themselves. It seems horrid to think about it (infact, it makes me sick to my stomach), but if your animal is dead or is going to die, you sometimes need to find a logical way of "disposing" of it. And if another creature can benefit from it, I don't see the harm.

I hope that doesn't offend anyone at all (reading it back to myself, it offends me! Lol! Sorry!).

That is different. Your birds died. You didn't kill them to feed something else. If the animal dies on its own, then using it to help something else, well, that's kinda like organ donation. I have an organ donar stamp on my license. If something happens to me, then someone else in need is welcome to some part of me that they may need. But no, I wouldn't want to die to help someone who needed my parts. Not the same.

[philodice]

You said it, Jay!
I am lucky in that I don't have to make this decision, but if I had bred animals for meat, and all the sudden had nobody to sell the meat too, (say, I bred cows hypothetically) I would butcher and can it and send the meat to my extended family, who are all very practical and would honor the meaning of that donation. I've seen too many 'feed the children' commercials to let that sort of waste occur in my life. But being against breeding animals for consumption, and being a vegetarian, it's more likely that I'd have a surplus of carrots than pigeons so I'll never have to worry about such moral troubles.