An idea

[gingerpoo]

For people with large amounts of AGSG birds:

Have you considered donating the birds to animal rehabilitation programs (birds of prey specifically) that way the birds dont just go to waste. A lot of programs will take food donations for their animals, and as long as your birds are healthy I would think they would happily accept them.
You may even be able to use the donation as a write off on your taxes.

[Lovebirds]

Please tell us you're not suggesting that the bird be donated to these places so that their birds of prey can chase them down and kill and eat them?
We all realize that all animals must eat to survive, but.......this isn't a good idea or suggestion. Sorry.

[lwerden]

Sorry, but the thought of birds of prey being used as a solution for these poor birds...........SENDS SHIVERS UP MY SPINE!!!!

Bad idea......

[Msfreebird]

I'm going to refrain from commenting on that idea - because it wouldn't be nice

[Lovebirds]

I think she gets the idea. Let's not make a big deal out of this. She wasn't being cruel I don't think...........everyone doesn't see things in the same way. Can we just leave it at that? I think we've had enough arguments in the past month to last us all a good long while............

[Msfreebird]

Originally Posted by Lovebirds

I think she gets the idea. Let's not make a big deal out of this. She wasn't being cruel I don't think...........everyone doesn't see things in the same way. Can we just leave it at that? I think we've had enough arguments in the past month to last us all a good long while............

Sounds fair to me

[spirit wings]

the rehab that I have seen for birds of prey they are confined and usually fed supermarket chicken or just killed mice....feeding a bird to them would be a mess. if they could kill a bird on their own at that point they would be retured to the wild..I think you meant well, but for pigeon lovers the thought is not a good one.

[gingerpoo]

well i meant if they were going to be gassed anyway. not fed to them alive. but i realize that there are people out there that have literally thousands of these birds. which realistically are not all going to find homes. rather than gassing and throwing them in the landfill, donate their bodies to organizations that could use the birds for a purpose. help other animals who are in need rather than letting their entire lives be in vain.

and even for people releasing thousands of these birds.. what do you think that the percentage of mortality rate is for birds that have never ever ever seen the outdoors, let alone have any type of survival skills, i know that its hard to think death might be a better option than life.. but im just trying to think of how much these birds are going to end up suffering, starving and getting picked off by predators in a definate inhumane uncaring way. its like dropping your dog off in a parking lot and telling him to go be free.
Im not saying that gassing is the first answer. finding as many homes as possible is the best/first answer.. but after that isnt an option..if you had to choose a way to die.. which way would it be? and wouldnt it be best to give your life for something? (ie helping others in need?)

[TAWhatley]

While this is a pigeon advocacy site, the reality of the situation with all these AGSG birds is as has been posted .. most will either be killed or released to try and fend for themselves. We may save a few of them here, but tens of thousands of them will perish one way or another.

I don't think Gingerpoo was being cruel or unrealistic with the suggestion of some of these doomed pigeons becoming raptor food .. becoming human food is another possibility and that is what was intended for the birds from the start.

I think we are on a very slippery slope right now and am suggesting that we let this thread just pass away though anyone is free to post if you can be civil and factual. If civil and factual can't be managed, then the thread will be closed.

Terry

[the bird man]

i agree with you gingerpoo i understand where your coming from and is not a terrible idea.heck if i were going to die i would want to die quick instead of starving and i would want my body to enter the circle of life and let something eat the body i'm no longer useing rather than be burnt or just decompose in a landfill

[the bird man]

unfortantly i don't think anything would want to eat me
i eat to much junk food and i'd probably be too salty

[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!).

[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.

[Georgina]

I just wanted to add, I would never agree with gassing animals just because you have too many of them. The idea's do-able only with animals that have died from natural causes. And that would kind of defeat the object of rescuing birds destined to be eaten only to gas them and feed them to other animals.