In Munich Central Station, pigeons regularly die in the nets that are supposed to drive them away.
Activists speak of animal cruelty - but Deutsche Bahn hasn't changed anything for months.
Munich – The sight is frightening: dead pigeons with dislocated limbs regularly hang in the nets of the main station.
The so-called deterrence nets under the roofs are actually supposed to scare the animals away, but instead they get caught in them and die from stress or thirst after hours of trying to free themselves.
According to Deutsche Bahn, the networks are constantly being checked.
But animal rights activists have been observing the problem for months without anything having changed.
Animal rights activists: "Just as capable of suffering as other animal species"
Since February 2022, the Alliance of Bavarian Animal Rights Organizations (BBT) has been documenting all cases of dead pigeons, reports spokesman Robert Derbeck in an interview with
Merkur.de
.
Within two weeks they would have discovered at least five of them and many other animals, some of which were very weak and trapped behind the nets.
In some cases, the carcasses would even hang in the nets for months until Deutsche Bahn removed them.
"The topic is simply not taken seriously and the financial expenses stand in the way," explains Derbeck, "because it 's
only
about pigeons." The birds could feel just as much suffering as other animal species.
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Caught in the net: a dead pigeon under the roofs at Munich Central Station.
© Alliance of Bavarian Animal Rights Organizations
There is a responsible employee from the 3-S headquarters of Deutsche Bahn (service, security and cleanliness) at Munich Central Station.
But if this only appears after two or three days, he can only remove the dead animals.
"They end up dying in agony because they starve, die of thirst, or die from stress," Derbeck said.
Deutsche Bahn on the procedure at Munich Central Station: "Network is checked regularly"
When we asked Deutsche Bahn, our editorial staff received a standard reply: "Deutsche Bahn strives to make the stay of travelers and guests in the stations as pleasant as possible.
In this context, pigeon populations in the train stations - especially due to the legacies - represent a constant challenge," writes a spokeswoman, "for this reason, measures to deter the pigeons are implemented.
We are in talks with the veterinary office of the city of Munich about all measures.
The entire network is regularly checked and repaired.”
The press office does not provide any information on whether there are alternatives to the networks or how the railways would like to prevent the death of pigeons in the future.
The BBT would have received such a statement several times, says Derbeck.
"We've been hearing that since the beginning of the year [2022, editor's note].
Red.] and since then nothing has happened.”
Unsuccessful criminal charges against Deutsche Bahn
The animal rights activists have already filed several criminal charges against the Munich train station management.
Their justification: suspected violation of the Animal Welfare Act.
But the Munich public prosecutor's office rejected all lawsuits because Deutsche Bahn was not legally responsible for domestic pigeons that had run wild and also because the birds had too low a market value.
Other BBT initiatives were also unsuccessful.
In December, the animal rights activists wrote to Mayor Dieter Reiter and various state ministries and have not received a reply to date.
However, the alternative options for driving away pigeons are limited, as a listing by the Bauzentrum Munich shows.
In addition to nets, grilles and defense spikes, which have been used at train stations to date, fragrance sprays or scare calls are possible, but their effectiveness has not been proven or only lasts for a short time.
Other methods such as tension wires (partly with electrical voltage) or sticky gels pose an even greater risk of injury for the animals. However, the building center points out that nets must also be tight so that the pigeons do not get tangled in them.
The city of Schongau is trying to lure pigeons out of its old town with targeted feeding.
Campaign of the German Animal Welfare Association: "Don't be afraid of city pigeons"
In order to fight against the bad image of pigeons as "rats of the air", the German Animal Welfare Association has started a pigeon protection campaign.
He uses it to point out that city pigeons also deserve to be treated with respect as living beings.
The campaign also gives tips on how to behave when dealing with pigeons.
Carrier pigeons, on the other hand, enjoy a better reputation - a bird from Bavaria won a beauty contest in December.
List of rubrics: © Schmidt/BBV