The Valencia City Council has decided to activate a new plan to reduce the presence of pests of pigeons and starlings in the city. The municipality will soon award the contract to carry out this control due to the proliferation of these specimens, as reported by the municipal administration in a press release.
Among the planned measures, in addition to the feeders with sterilizing food, selective captures and transfer to ecological dovecotes are envisaged. The councilor for animal welfare of the Valencian capital, Juan Carlos Caballero, said that “Under no circumstances will any specimen be sacrificed.“, the consistory specified.
The new plan that the City Council will activate to reduce the presence of pigeons and starlings in the streets of Valencia will be developed especially in the neighborhoods of Saidia, Extramurs, l’Olivereta, Camins al Grau and Quatre Carreres because these are the areas where the greatest number of birds have been recorded in the presence of these birds, the local administration said.
The contract that the municipality will soon award for the control of these populations amounts to 450,000 euros in two years and will include a study and a real census of the number of animals with a view to taking control measures.
This new contract provides for the selective capture of pigeons with cages or nets and the transfer of specimens to ecological dovecotes in cities or rural areas.
The city council assured that “the rules relating to animal welfare will always be respected” and insisted that “in no case is any sacrifice planned“.
In addition, feeders with sterilized food and egg removal will be maintained and new measures will be implemented such as air cannons modify starling habits in areas where overpopulation causes problems or neighborhood complaints.
Juan Carlos Caballero stressed that “in recent years, the pigeon population has grown exponentially, to the point of constituting a hygiene and health problem in environments such as markets, squares, schools or health centers.” “In 2021 there were 22,000 specimens and now we estimate them at around 35,000,” he noted.
“Insufficient”
Likewise, the mayor stated that “the policy of feeders with sterilized food implemented by the government of Rialto – the former executive of Compromís and the PSPV – is insufficient” and stated that “what he did was multiply the pigeon population“.
“We choose to maintain the feeders in places where they are effective, but we will strengthen other control mechanisms that, in any case, will always respect the welfare of the animals and will never include sacrifice,” the PP spokesman stressed to the council.
“We will identify the points where they nest and which may be sensitive to take concrete measures. We must be aware that complaints from neighborhoods about the proliferation of pigeons have increased in practically the entire city,” added Caballero.
