Squads fight high-rise pigeon coops
Beijing officials have set up a pigeon police force to crack down on illegal breeding of the birds in flats after neighbours complained of feathers, foul smells and droppings.
Wang Yingshan of the city management office in Haidian district - centre of the operation and of one of Beijing's densest populations of pigeons - said authorities would take the law to the doorsteps of illegal bird breeders.
Twenty-six special bird brigades are taking phone calls and e-mails in their mission to root out the offending roosts. So far, 117 coops have been destroyed and 407 coop keepers have closed shop, according to local media.
Pigeon hobbyists typically raise the birds on balconies to give them space to fly, as training for their work as messengers. Some, especially in Haidian, raise the birds for sale.
But neighbours of breeders have called the district authorities 'a lot' to complain of falling feathers, bad smells and droppings on their parked vehicles, Mr Wang said. Some people complained they could not open their windows because of falling feathers, he said, and 'they really, really hate droppings on their windshields'.
Beijing's sanitation law, which took effect on October 1, bans outdoor pigeon coops as well as littering, spitting and urinating in public - all of which city officials believe may hurt Beijing's image ahead of the 16th party congress and the 2008 Olympics.
The Beijing Messenger Pigeon Association backs the law and believes pigeons in urban Beijing should be raised indoors, according to one member, who said the outdoor coops were an eyesore.
