Kids chasing pigeons and ducks

[Aveno432]

Yet another day of seeing children chasing ducks with the parents doing fuck all to stop them. This was even worse in that the parents were both filming the two kids on their phones and obviously finding it funny and cute. Since when is terrifying animals funny? I see it regularly with pigeons and ducks and I'm so sick of it.

Aibu to think it's animal cruelty?

A discussion doesn't need name calling

There is a link (quite small I believe) between cruelty to animals and wildlife and criminal acts against humans in adults. This should be borne in mind when raising children. Kindness is necessary always to everything and everyone.

Sometimes it does. Your contributions have been goady, rude and unkind. It is beyond me why you came to just post in a random and angry way on something you either don't much care about or you really fucking hate birds. Either way, your presence isn't required or appreciated.

Now that was unkind. I love birds, including pigeons. I just don't see the difference between a car, an animal or a child scaring them. Driving a car towards a flock of birds in a road is a deliberate act that people do all the time. Not being goady, just a different p.o.v

@Weekendnaughtiness , do you think pigeons don’t feel fear? Do you think it’s ok to teach children that terrifying a more vulnerable individual is acceptable?

I don't care that you think it's a horrible attitude. After you've been hit at what seems like a million miles an hour by a ton of weight trying to grab a pie on it's way to your mouth, and blood drawn - seagulls deserve to be chased off. Nasty marauding seagulls tarnish them all with the same predatory brush. You can see them operating in gangs: the 'spotter', the 'fly-by-er', the 'distractor', the 'attacker'.

Deliberately driving a car at birds is absolutely abhorent though - no-one would claim it's okay.
Animals chase birds due to a need to eat, or hunting instincts in the case of domesticated pets. People should have their dogs under control and not disturbing wildlife anyway.

You're anthropomorphising seagulls - they're not humans, they're not some gang with ill-intent. They are native animals forced into that sort of opportunism because we've fished out their hunting grounds and built on their nesting sites.

This.

They respond exactly the same way when a crow, car, bike, dog, cat or adult human is running towards them. They couldnt look less bothered, in my experience

Can’t be that fearful… they fly back to the exact same spot. Almost playing chase 😆

Because they have to conserve energy

Savages, children of savages.

Little shits

fed up with ‘seagulls’ being said too - they are GULLS

Give it a few years and they'll be bullying kids at school, then the parents will be on here complaining that the teachers said something to their little darling.
Or they'll try to to torture an animal that bites back, and then the parents will whine that dogs/cats/birds/whatever the animal is shouldn't be allowed near their precious darling.
More worryingly, kids that hurt animals often hurt humans later.

Yes I stamped on thousands of ants as a child and now I’m a sadist 😆

So they fly back to the exact same spot?

It's horrible to see this. Would the parents mind if anyone ran at their children?

Oh you didn’t! 😆

Someone told a story on here a while ago about some dads encouraging their children to chase pigeons, & the pigeons then flying up & shitting on the lot of them.

I hope it was true because it was thoroughly deserved.

Wow they deleted me calling people who think it's ok to chase pigeons idiots. Interesting.

The way they operate in gangs to steal my pie, causing bleeding injury and shock … they deserve to be chased. It is not anthrowotsitting to observe their gang behaviour and to be of the opinion that good chasing is acceptable.

😂

Scared pigeons? Bullshit. They're bloody fearless. Run at them, they scatter for 10 seconds then come right back in hopes of a snack. If they were actually scared, they'd scatter and stay away. LIke animals who genuinely DO get scared act.

I agree. I have a toddler, and will be teaching her not to run at animals. There is no need. Idc if humans have labelled pigeons vermin. They are still living creatures who feel things like fear. Everyone should teach their children a baseline of respect for living things. No one would find it acceptable if children were chasing cats or whatever. And it doesn't matter if they're actually frightened or not. It's just not kind behaviour.

And there shouldn't be a hierarchy of animals. We should be kind to all animals, not just the ones we think are cute. You don't need to like animals like pigeons, but it doesn't mean you need to be cruel to them either.

As a side note, I love pigeons!