Oh dear, how is the Aylesbury Town Centre Partnership ever going to achieve its goal of reducing the town's feral pigeon population when the report is accompanied by a picture of a pair of doves in a nest?

It is this type of ignorance where people do not know the difference between feral pigeons, racing pigeons and doves that does untold harm to the pigeon racing fraternity. Racing pigeons enjoy the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen and many a human life was saved during the second world war by racing pigeons. Approximately 250,000 pigeons were deployed by the Army, R.A.F. and the Civil Defence Services and 33 were awarded the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross. They not only carried home messages giving the location of pilots who had been shot down enabling them to be rescued, but also brought home vital information from French Resistance fighters.

So I would take issue with Rachel Faulkner's remark referring to pigeons as "the dreadful things". It is not the pigeons that are dreadful, but man's inability to deal with any problems they may cause that is dreadful. Your reporter suggests that maybe bird's eggs could be destroyed. I do not think destroying one bird's eggs is going to do much good – perhaps he meant "birds' eggs"?

As a lifetime pigeon fancier, this misleading article has certainly ruffled my feathers!





David Turnham

President, Aylesbury United Flying Club