AIBU to tell a parent not to let their child torment pigeons?

[aliceyyyy2654]

I was walking in my town today and saw a young child around 6/7 chasing pigeons. This isn’t an unusual occurrence and I know children often do this, it’s natural for them.
this child was trying to kick the pigeons and shouting ‘die’ at them.
the mum/grandma (unsure due to slightly older age) just sat doing nothing. I went to the lady ‘excuse me, please could you not let your child torture animals, it’s disgusting’.
I didn’t speak to the child because ultimately it’s not her fault it’s the adults.

a man (not sure if known to them) said ‘shut up bitch’ to me, which I probably stupidly replied ‘fuck off’ and walked away.

AIBU to have spoken to the woman?
I accept unreasonable to swear but I wasn’t expecting him to come at me from behind like that.

And yet they quite deliberately choose to spend time where small children congregate. All this sympathy when they’re such pests it’s legal to cull them. My local hospital uses raptors.

Maybe they’re gathering where there’s food or the possibility of food?
Perhaps you’re one of those people who let’s or would let their child chase them.

I admire you for speaking up and calling out the adults for not putting a stop to this awful behaviour towards innocent beings. I have called out similar in the past an it has elicited angry responses from’bigmen’ types, but knew I was doing the right thing at the time.

I did the same with a kid throwing stone at and chasing ducks. Mum's reply ' fuck off, hes got ADHD, he can't help it'
My reply probably didn't help 'ADHD isn't an excuse, and the apple clearly didn't fall far from the tree'

I’m one of those people who isn’t sentimental about vermin. Pigeons carry disease.

I think you overreacted. As you say yourself, it’s normal/playful behaviour for kids to chase birds. He might have been saying ‘die’ which is pretty weird and off but it’s not like the pigeons understand him! Unless he was throwing stones at them or trying to pull their feathers out ‘torturing’ was a bit much. The guy still shouldn’t have verbally abused you like that.

I consider myself a huge animal lover but I just can’t see what the issue is with this. Pigeons eat anything, they aren’t being chased off from precious resource, they are constantly having to take off and fly a few feet at any stimulus, and kids will chase once or twice, get the thrill of them all taking off and move on. I just don’t see how it distresses the pigeons.

I’m not being sentimental. I’m not a fan of pigeons. It’s still not ok for kids to chase and frighten them. Apart from anything else, why on earth would a parent want to bring up a child to think it’s ok to chase and frighten animals?

Are you a vegan/vegetarian OP?

Agree with you OP, and I'm just thinking that next time you could say something to the child like 'Ouch ouch that hurts them!'
because then you're telling him that the birds don't like it, but it's not confrontational to the parents.

It grinds my gears. Unfortunately, despite my endless teachings, my AD1(10), who is autistic and has ADHD, will try to chase the pigeons (we live near a river and a canal in a tourist town where the birds are well fed) whenever she can. I hate it. She has PDA. I have explained repeatedly that it would be like a T-Rex chasing her through the town. Even when I am body covering her and ensuring that she cannot chase the pigeons, she will still make startle movements to frighten them. It drives me crackers. It’s like a compulsion. Much as I hate pigeons, flying rats, I cannot stand to see children chasing them. It’s so cruel. And I am ashamed of my AD2’s behaviours.

Well done for speaking up. . The oik parent / grandparent may be too stupid to deal with the child but thank goodness you intervened. I’ve seen worse behaviour from a child tormenting a clearly sick bird at a botanical gardens. The mother screeched at me because I spoke to the child directly - the child was flinging stones onto the bird which was huddled on a bridge, attacking it from a 30cm range. The bird was cornered. I had to fetch a staff member as the mother felt I shouldn’.t speak to her child “brusquely”.

people who don’t control their children in these situation sicken me.

This 👆 I probably wouldn’t have spoken up because the streets are full of unpredictable arseholes now, but well done to you.

Actually, it’s mostly a myth that pigeons transmit disease to humans. Try educating yourself about it.

Do all meat eaters have no problem being cruel/allowing their children to be cruel to animals?

I always find these threads deeply perplexing.

Has any child ever managed to injure or kill a pigeon?

My experience of pigeons is that they are exceptionally adept at avoiding contact with humans (even though one broke the covenant by flying into my head once). They don’t seem bothered by close contact in the slightest. They fly away then come back. This does not suggest deep trauma.

I have a dog that chases birds on the green, of course he’s never caught one, the birds seem to treat it as a bit of a game. They fly further away then come back (to taunt him 🙂). Again I can’t see that being chased is harming them in any way. I would instinctively think that birds are used to predators, and a harmless game of hide and seek is actually good for them.

Many wildlife reserves have multiple species in the same enclosures, they recognise that interacting with other species is beneficial to animals. This includes predatory behaviour, as would happen in a natural environment.

Overall, a child kicking about, with no actual chance of hurting a pigeon, doesn’t seem like “disgusting “ or “torture” to me. It might sharpen the pigeon’s reflexes, and so what? Is there any evidence it actually harms the pigeon?

If it makes you feel any better OP, I saw a kid doing this a few years ago. He kicked at one of them and fell flat on his face - instant karma 🤣

My FASD/ADHD/ASD adopted son chases pigeons and it’s honestly the least of my fucking problems.

I imagine it’s not top of the list of any parents problems but that doesn’t stop us from trying to put a stop to it.

Similar diagnoses to you. I still hate it. I still think it’s cruel. I would never encourage animal cruelty. Even though I think pigeons are flying vermin.

YANBU - Also, telling him to fuck off is the only appropriate response ✅

What a weird question.

I used to chase pidgins because dick dastardly and mutley. Nothing would stop me. I didn't mean them any harm though. No one seemed bothered but my parents. This was the early 90s.

Really - did you always copy the cartoons?

So you let your kids be cruel to animals then? 🙄