One of them is a presentation by Dr Colin Walker from the "Flying Vet" on veterinary cases involving pigeons. (Yes, I know I am boring. I read and re-read my many text-books on parrots and pigeons)
The other DVD he bought me is called "Up on the Roof".It is about a rogue group of tenants in NYC that keep and raise pigeons in rooftop aviaries for flying events with other rooftop pigeon hobbyists.
The DVD was published in 2008.
This is mostly a documentary focusing on these tenants of Puerto Rican and Italian descent.These lower income renters talked about how pigeons "kept them off the streets" busying themselves with the care, breeding and training of their birds.. Much to dismay of their wives (It was mostly men who were involved in this hobby) they kept to themselves obsessively competing and trading with other roof top hobbyists.
As their neighborhood started to grow and became more "gentrified" their decade(s) long residency changed. Their $300.00 a month rent jumped to $1,500.00. These older apartments now needed updating to be up to'code".
These folks were pushed out and so were their birds.
The landlords wanted these guys to "get rid of their birds and aviaries" NOW "because of sanitation reasons and the "new" tenants complained.
There were many unweaned babies still in nests. The key word(s) are "get rid of their birds and aviaries".
I feel sick to my stomach knowing the fate of these pigeons since they had no "animal rights" protection.
At some point when Salisbury beach gets updated I think the same fate will befall the pigeons there. I might find myself scrambling to save one or two nests before they and the contents are cruelly destroyed.
And that is if the property owners don't kick me away from their property.
I have no doubt this will happen. Six years ago an old abandon bath-house on the beach was torn down right in the middle of spring time when there were nesting birds residing inside.
No one cared.
No comments:
Post a Comment