The Altona train station in Hamburg is teeming with pigeons.
Activists are now calling for a dovecote - animal suffering can only end if they are looked after.
Hamburg / Munich - pigeons do not have a good reputation - the birds are suspected of transmitting diseases by many.
But there are also people who stand up for the pigeons.
In Hamburg at the Altonaer Bahnhof there is a big problem with the animals - there are countless of them and they leave their droppings everywhere.
But according to activists, it is not the pigeons to blame - it is the people.
On Saturday there was a vigil in front of the station by the Hamburger Stadttauben eV member Andrea Scholl said to the
morning post
: "We want to draw attention to the suffering of the city pigeons." The club had already demonstrated in front of the town hall of the Hanseatic city and in Harburg.
Their motto: "Pigeon houses against human-made animal suffering!" Because the responsibility for the situation lies solely with humans: "Pigeons were bred by humans to breed, which now leads to an overpopulation." At the same time, however, they are not in a position to feed themselves take care of and eat human rubbish when they cannot find any grains.
Too many pigeons at Hamburger Bahnhof?
There are many pigeons at the Hamburger Bahnhof, but they are not looked after.
For a long time the association has been trying to get a supervised loft for the city pigeons, also in contact with the Deutsche Bahn.
"But something always came up - at last we had even reached an agreement with Deutsche Bahn, but then they sold the station and moved to Diebsteich and everything started all over again," says Scholl.
The city, to which the station now belongs, is withdrawing from responsibility.
Hamburg-Altona station: dovecote the only animal-friendly solution?
According to Scholl, a dovecote at Altona train station would be the only animal-friendly solution for the northern German city. “It's about tying the pigeons to a place where they won't harm anyone.” Since the animals are loyal to their place, the station would be the only point of view. In the dovecote there would be water and breeding nests for the birds. One could even reduce the population by exchanging pigeon eggs for plaster eggs. A positive effect would then be that the pigeons would no longer run around in the train station and would leave their droppings everywhere. Scholl: "They're running around right now because they're hungry and looking for something to eat." That is why the demonstrators are also calling for the ban on feeding to be abolished.
"The only solution to this madness is a dovecote - and exchanging the eggs," emphasizes Scholl.
Spikes and pigeon nets are not very effective.
The pigeon itself is not unhygienic and not a problem animal - if it is kept in a species-appropriate manner.
(cg)
A family from Berlin has been looking for their dog for two months.
The terrier was kidnapped and released.
His mistress laid scent marks with roast chicken.
