Poisoned pigeons plummet into crowd

Press, 17 October 1987, Page 30

Poisoned pigeons plummet into crowd

NZPA-PA London A top church official has admitted ordering the slaughter of scores of pigeons. The Dean of Wells Cathedral, Somerset, called in pest controllers to poison the birds’ morning feed in a bld to get rid of them from the cathedral.

But the drug took two hours to take, effect and horrified children and shoppers saw the birds plummet to the ground. Prince Charles is a patron of the 'Cathedral Preservation Trust and has paid several visits to the building. One pigeon landed in a woman’s grocery bag while another hit the pavement in the middle of

a group of schoolchildren. Three pigeons which managed to flutter into the grounds of the home of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rt Rev. John Bickersteth, were killed by his Springer spaniel. One woman shopper said, “It was unbelievable - like something out of a horror film.

“Birds kept falling in their dozens, from nowhere. A lot of people were extremely distressed by what they Saw.”

A town newsagent, Mr Bob Pletts, said people had been told by three men collecting the drugged pigeons that they were going to be released elsewhere, but a policeman had seen them

wringing the birds’ necks. Captain John Shillingford, spokesman for the dean’s office, said, “I’m afraid it was the only option open to us.

“The pigeons have been roosting In the cathedral for years but they are increasing in numbers all the time and there are now hundreds.

After consulting with the Ministry of Agriculture and the R.S.P.C.A. we decided to get rid of them in the most humane way possible.

“There were some regrettable incidents. It was obviously a shock for the woman who discovered a pigeon in her bag. I do hope it didn’t cause her too much distress.”