People throughout history have gone to great lengths to find purpose in their lives. Some move through obstacles to create better worlds for themselves. Others find a purpose in helping those around them, as well as the many life forms that exist in our world. This is a story about the Pigeon Rescue Crew in London.
The London Pigeon Rescue is a non-profit volunteer service headed by Jennie Brennan and Jacob Peter. Their goal is to rescue injured pigeons found in the city of London and to rehabilitate them to give the birds a fresh start. Throughout the city of London, there are estimated to be 3 million pigeons. With plenty of food sources to feed them, and as many places to seek shelter with an ability to nest, the birds are happy to populate urbanized areas.
With London’s large pigeon population, problems are inevitable. Pigeons often face a range of challenges that they readily find themselves in the thick of. This is why two volunteers, known as the Pigeon Rescue Crew, founded the London Pigeon Rescue. Their primary mission is to help the city’s feral pigeons, with a special focus on a condition known as stringfoot.
From Tangled Toes to Happy Pigeons
Stringfoot is a condition caused by the accumulation of human hair, string, and other materials become wrapped around pigeons’ feet. Once entangled, the slowly collecting mass of foreign material can cut off circulation in their feet and can bite into the bird’s skin. This is painful for the bird and can sometimes lead to irreversible limps, or worse, severed toes.
The volunteers roam the city looking for pigeons with stringfoot. The dedicated mission is to capture the bird and attempt to disentangle the mess and, hopefully, do so without significant issues.
The volunteers note that a pigeon’s transformation is dramatic once it’s freed from the entanglement. When they find a pigeon with stringfoot, they woo it with seeds and cover it with a towel. They then disentangle the mess as cleanly as possible with scissors and pliers, if necessary.
The organization’s website and Facebook page ask citizens to report the exact location of afflicted pigeons. In addition, the website asks citizens to further help by picking up found clumps of hair, string, and other material that could wrap up around a pigeon’s foot as they walk the city.
The crew teaches that the pigeons are not wild, nor are they disease carriers. Rather, they are the descendants of once domesticated pigeons. Some of the original pigeons of old were used in the world wars as messengers, but were abandoned after the wars ended.
London Pigeon Rescue is not government-funded and therefore depends on the donations of caring people who share the goal. The links for donations are on the website.
