Weather
100 complaints over Blackburn priest’s huge flock of pigeons (From Blackburn Citizen)
When news happens, text LT and your photos and videos to 80360. Or contact us by email or phone.
100 complaints over Blackburn priest’s huge flock of pigeons
11:23am Tuesday 9th February 2010
RESIDENTS of a sheltered housing complex say their lives are being made a misery by a priest who refuses to stop feeding hundreds of pigeons outside their homes.
They claim they have been dive-bombed by the flock, cannot hang washing out to dry and constantly have to clean their cars.
One hundred people living in Carluke Street, Bentley Street, Ferrier Court and Ferrier Close, Blackburn, have complained to the council.
Joyce Sandford, 72, of Ferrier Close, said: “It’s like something out of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.
"You’ll be sitting in your living room and all of a sudden it’ll go dark.
“You think ‘what on earth is that?’ and then you realise its all the hundreds of birds swooping and circling around outside.
“They dive bomb you when you go outside.”
Local councillor James Shorrock said: “With respect to religion, these aren’t white doves coming down from heaven, they are vermin carrying disease.
"Pigeons cause a lot of damage to public buildings and areas and I fully support what the residents are trying to do.”
Father Paul Taylor, the priest at St Teresa’s Church, has now agreed with the council for them to be gradually removed and be rereleased into the wild.
He said he had been looking after the birds since he came to the church 10 years ago, adding the issue had only surfaced in the last two years.
“Pigeons are God’s creatures as well and I get enjoyment from feeding them,” he said.
“There are quite a number of them, animals being animals – they breed.
"It’s an ongoing issue that’s being dealt with by the local authority and it is a situation which we are trying to sort out humanely.”
More News stories
- Blackburn security guard tells of moment he was shot
- Darwen road resurfacing projects delayed
- Derby game arrangements revealed
- VIDEO: Darwen supermarket worker is top of the shops!
- Hyndburn Council joins fight against Baxenden flats plan
- Rishton carpenter's work for the Queen
- Live coverage of Blackburn Cathedral's Pakistan debate
- Plea as charity store returns to Darwen
- New shops ‘to boost Darwen town centre’
- Hoddlesden school theatre is first for area
Your Say YourCitizen
happycyclist, Darwen says...
4:08pm Tue 9 Feb 10
pip-pip, says...
4:47pm Tue 9 Feb 10
Just hope the old dear who feeds the pigeons on the Towngate in Great Harwood can be made to do it somewhere else, before our Town Hall is refurbished.
burger face, accrington says...
7:44pm Tue 9 Feb 10
Tosh67, Blackburn says...
9:41pm Tue 9 Feb 10
bubble of reason, says...
10:11pm Tue 9 Feb 10
lencho, blackburn says...
11:10pm Tue 9 Feb 10
Leave the old guy alone you rotten sods, he has probably done more good than most of you lot put together.
If the pigeons do a bit of “mucking “ here & there so be it there are far worse things go on in Blackburn than a bit of bird **** !
antony h, blackburn says...
7:27am Wed 10 Feb 10
Personally I think we are all made from "ALIENS". :)
I say feed the poor not the birds, I have yet to see a pigeon that doesn't look well-fed, they are wild animals they have survived for many centuries without human interference, you are just encouraging them to breed in a residential place therefore helping them spread more unwanted diseases, they belong in the wild, I have walked passed this place and I am a young lad it's not nice at all they swoop down round you and you never know what to do jump in first bush you see or just run for your life, I cannot imagine what goes through the older folks minds when this happens.
On the loose, Preston says...
8:02pm Thu 11 Feb 10
The food he leaves will also attract rats to the neighbourhood. That's the company that he deserves.
On the loose, Preston says...
8:30pm Thu 11 Feb 10
Bristol Family Court made an ASBO against Mr Branfield. He now faces up to five years in prison if he breaches the order by feeding pigeons and any other animals.
sombrero, says...
11:04pm Thu 11 Feb 10
"My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you... you neither sow nor reap, and God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore... always seek to praise God."
So instead of despising the birds why not try also to love them and be kind also?
sombrero, says...
11:11pm Thu 11 Feb 10
Rats are also gods creatures with as much right to inhabit the earth as the human species.....why must we always look at ourselves as superior to all other beings? Why so much hate? So very sad................
antony h, blackburn says...
8:24am Fri 12 Feb 10
sombrero wrote:What book did you crawl out of.
I think that he is a good man who quite rightly is looking after gods creatures who need it especially in the harsh winter - what a shame that human creatures are so harsh, and is is sad there are not more good hearted people as the father, who just like st Francis is deeply spiritual in his words:
"My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you... you neither sow nor reap, and God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore... always seek to praise God."
So instead of despising the birds why not try also to love them and be kind also?
Show me the evidence that god exists and he made me and all the rest of the creatures that inhabit earth without reading a book that NO ONE knows is true and you will have a valid point, but until then GTFO.
This is what really gets me, you people talk to god and that is classed as "Normal" yet as soon as someone says they have heard from god that is classed as insane and they are locked up.
If you believe in him and pray to him / talk to him then why can't some people hear from him, either way i think its all bullsh*t.
BTW Stop quoting Shiite off google that no one knows is true.
andy1296, blackburn says...
11:25am Fri 12 Feb 10
Tosh67, Blackburn says...
8:24pm Fri 12 Feb 10
sombrero wrote:lunatic, how fantastic is care in the community.tosser
I think that he is a good man who quite rightly is looking after gods creatures who need it especially in the harsh winter - what a shame that human creatures are so harsh, and is is sad there are not more good hearted people as the father, who just like st Francis is deeply spiritual in his words: "My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you... you neither sow nor reap, and God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore... always seek to praise God." So instead of despising the birds why not try also to love them and be kind also?
tf19, Portugal says...
11:05pm Fri 12 Feb 10
There's a preoccupation with factuality, and yet no-one's pointed out that:
1. Pigeons don't block daylight, not unless there were millions of them, or some good cinematic special effects.
2. They don't transmit disease -- that's pest control spin doctoring. Can you use google? Do your own research, it's out there.
3. They don't 'swoop' for any other reason than to check if you've got food for them. Seagulls swoop if they have reason to seek revenge. Wrong species.
4. It takes 2 years to reset a pigeon's homing instinct. Move them for a shorter period and they'll be back before you know it.
Does the councillor or any of the residents have a real plan, because none was put forward. Personally, I prefer to deal with people who feed pigeons than with sourpusses who hate everything and everybody; but if the neighbours are bothered about the proliferation of the pigeons, they should contact PICAS, the only British organisation who would know how to control their numbers effectively and humanely.
And then everybody can go right back to pulling hair and scratching eyes about God or whatever...
sombrero, says...
6:26pm Sun 14 Feb 10
Pigeons are actually very gentle intelligent creatures....more than can be said for some humans!(examples here considered)
UNHAPPY FLOCK: Stan Nash, Rose Wickham, Joyce Sandford, Andrew Smith, Patricia Mercer and Safia Islam with pigeons overhead
FEATHERED FRIENDS: But residents say their lives are being made a misery with the huge flocks
WING AND PRAYER: Birds around the roof of St Teresa’s RC Church, Bentley Street, Blackburn, where Father Paul Taylor is priest
'GOD'S CREATURES': Father Paul Taylor
Local advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
blackburn south, darwen says...
1:20pm Tue 9 Feb 10