Greater Anglia abandon plans to cull pigeons and take action to free pigeons trapped in netting

Posted on the 19th August 2020

Animal Aid recently reached out to Greater Anglia after being alerted to pigeons being trapped inside netting that had been fitted in Harwich International Station. We were extremely concerned by the reports of the pigeons being stuck inside netting, and wrote to Greater Anglia urging them to set the pigeons free.

The station confirmed they have experienced issues with pigeons, and while we were assured that Greater Anglia were planning on taking action to release the pigeons who were trapped, they also confirmed that they planned to cull pigeons as part of their deterrence strategy.  Culling pigeons is not only cruel, but it is not an effective control technique, and will not provide any long-term reduction in the numbers of pigeons. The only way to effectively resolve issues with pigeons is to implement appropriate deterrence methods around the station, such as spikes, which were also already part of Greater Anglia’s plan, rendering the cull even more senseless.

We are pleased to confirm that after explaining to Greater Anglia why culling is ineffective and cruel, they made the positive decision not to go ahead with this cull, and to free the pigeons from the netting.

Wonderful Wings bird rescue originally reached out to Animal Aid to flag this, and have offered to take in any injured or young pigeons who are released from the netting.

We would like to thank Greater Anglia for this compassionate decision and deciding not to cull these birds.

If you have heard of any planned or ongoing culls, please email the details to info@animalaid.org.uk or use the form below.

Report a wildlife cull

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