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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

T o let my son chase pigeons

376 replies

mrsruffallo · 02/10/2009 14:19

DS loves chasing flocks of pigeons. Every time we go to the park he and his friends scream with delight as they fly away.
Woman in the park today got very angry and told me that 'pigeons have feelings too' and that IT WAS CRUEL.
Funnily enough there was something along similar lines on CBeebies the other day.
AIBU to think it's just a bit of fun?

OP posts:
Chickenshavenolips · 02/10/2009 16:32

@ pigeon shag palaces.

tethersend · 02/10/2009 16:33

DuellingFanjo... possibly kill it, pluck it and slow roast it at gas mark 4?

Because, of course, that would be ok

DorotheaPlenticlew · 02/10/2009 16:34

squirrel42 -- yes I agree, I would say it is obvious to anyone reasonable that pulling a cat's tail upsets it, and I would feel justified in telling strangers to stop this, not only my own DC.

I am not saying anyone should encourage their DCs to run towards birds; I just don't think it is all that serious for a 3-year-old to try it out, so I wouldn't say the OP is being unreasonable.

DoingTheBestICan · 02/10/2009 16:35

Um probably nothing,cos i dont think children run at pigeons to hopefully catch one & inflict terrible cruelty to it,its just toddlers exploring the world around them.

My ds likes to run on the grass in our local park,maybe i should stop him in case he steps on a worm.

FFS how can people equate running at a bloody pigeon with pulling dogs ears?

They are pigeons & can fly away whenever they want,they arent strapped down you know?

Jamieandhismagictorch · 02/10/2009 16:35

DuelingFanjo

Just asked inveterate (if he was allowed) pigeon-worrier DS2. He said he'd put it in a cage, feed it and let people look at it. Then he'd let it go after one day

So that's my theory blown out of the water then.

squirrel42 · 02/10/2009 16:40

DoingthebestIcan - dogs aren't strapped down either, but if a child ran screaming at a strange dog then the dog may well snap at them. Pigeons are prey animals so they have a (literal) flight response. Doesn't mean it's still not uncessary to do it to them.

Dorothea I'm not saying it's the crime of the century for a child to run at pigeons to see what happens, and I agree that the child is probably not doing it to be cruel. But they should be told not to because it's not a nice thing to do, and if it becomes a habit/hobby then it needs to be stopped.

cantpooinpeace · 02/10/2009 16:41

lol @ "in case he steps in a worm" good point

DuelingFanjo · 02/10/2009 16:41

Aw, that's cute..I had a pet crow when I was a kid and I loved it.

Sassybeast · 02/10/2009 16:42

I bloody hate pigeons but I don't let the kids chase them because I want them to respect animals. So if they are allowed to chase horrible pigeons, the natural progression (for a 3 year old) is to chase any other living animal and I'd rather not let them think that a cute little duckie with cute baby ducklings is fair game. Or a fecking great mongrel which might do them serious damage. It's not THAT hard to understand is it ?

CloudDragon · 02/10/2009 16:42

YANBU - I eat meat but stop my children from eating pigeons.

I also stop my DC chasing and scareing smaller children and yet I don't eat toddlers.

the world is a mysterious place.

MissAnnesley · 02/10/2009 16:43

This is one of the most poorly argued threads I have seen for a long time. You pro-pigeon-chasers, can you come up with nothing better than

  • well I hate pigeons so fuck 'em
  • well you eat chicken sandwiches don't you?

It's like the pro-hunting lobby saying well there are too many foxes. Yes, well, let's find the most unpleasant and prolonged way of putting them to death and do that, then.

Re. chicken sandwiches, if an animal is going to end up on my plate I don't believe in torturing it - ie keeping it knee-deep in its own piss and shit and feeding it its relatives - nor in killing it other than humanely.

If you think it's ok to cause distress, deliberately, to another living thing, just because your children think it's amusing, and you think its life is worthless, I can't respect your opinion. And anyone who says a pigeon is not scared and they choose to live there don't they so they deserve it is just being wilfully blind.

I have always judged pigeon-chasers and will continue to do so. And I judge their parents too, I think it's poor parenting with either fuzzy thinking or crap beliefs.

Animals do matter, no matter how much you despise them.

cantpooinpeace · 02/10/2009 16:45

I'm not sure a pigeons brain has a lobe for processing distress or emotion - I'm serious ... anyone know? cos if it doesn't then we can all relax and carry on making the tea

Jamieandhismagictorch · 02/10/2009 16:47

Hear hear MissAnnesley. Please come and join me in Smug-and-Sanctimonious Corner.

BalloonSlayer · 02/10/2009 16:47

Budgies certainly manage to look miserable, when sick or bereaved of cage-mate.

Spidermama · 02/10/2009 16:48

Wow! I'm a big animal lover and a vegetarian but I have always let my boys chase pigeons. They can fly off elsewhere if they don't like it. I think it's harmless fun and people are being way too precious.

They're never going to catch one after all are they?

I've been surprised at this thread though. I thought everyone would say, it's fine, don't worry.

DorotheaPlenticlew · 02/10/2009 16:48

Flippin' heck MissAnnesley, don't hold back

MissAnnesley · 02/10/2009 16:49
Grin
MissAnnesley · 02/10/2009 16:49

Well you clearly know nothing about pigeons cantpooinpeace as one way of keeping areas free of unwanted pigeons is emitting recorded pigeon distress calls. Of course they feel distress.

Jamieandhismagictorch · 02/10/2009 16:52

Balloon Don't get me started on putting budgies in cages .........

LOL at sad-looking budgie

LynetteScavo · 02/10/2009 16:54

REAllly.....where can I get a recording of a pidgeon distress call? I would love to play it outside my office.

groundhogs · 02/10/2009 16:54

OMG, have seen it all now.... surely it's far too early for the wine/G&T to be out and being consumed????

Cruelty to animals is one thing, senseless and mindless and abhorant. Chasing a few pigeons.... PERLEAASE!

Their defense mechanism when confronted with anything that could be deemed as a hostile force is to fly away, be that a cat, a dog or a toddler. Only the last one will not be able to kill and eat said feathered friend. If nothing else, the toddler is helping them hone their flight mechanisms for a real predator.

Flipping heck, you'll be slapping ASBOS on scarecrows next....

tethersend · 02/10/2009 16:55

MissAnnesley-

So does the humanely killed lamb you eat suffer the trauma of being chased by a sheepdog?

Or is that somehow different?

cantpooinpeace · 02/10/2009 16:57

Well why the hell don't they give em out to pigeon chasing kids then they're not there to chase

MissAnnesley · 02/10/2009 16:58

tethersend a sheepdog guides and steadies the flock. A sheepdog does not rule the flock by some kind of reign of terror .

I really cannot believe the level of heartlessness on here.

Do you all buy shampoo that's been rubbed in rabbits' eyes too? Or is that not ok because rabbits are cuddly?

groundhogs · 02/10/2009 16:58

Oh no! I just remembered.. the other day was driving across country, and a pair of wood pigeons were walking in the road.

They really didn't seem to want to move out of my path, and I had to toot them... twice.

Will I be getting the Pigeon Fancying Fanatics after me?

It's a fair cop guv, I'll go hand myself in now....

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