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Hollywood Pigeons to Go on The Pill
Pigeons in Hollywood have it quite good. There are always new tourists to poop on, there are a variety of internationally delicious dumpsters to dine from, the weather is usually good, and now a local group is providing our feathered friends with free contraception so they can get down without worrying about producing a bunch of unwanted chicks.
"We think we've got a good solution to a bad situation," said Laura Dodson, president of the Argyle Civic Association, the group leading the effort to try the new contraceptive. "The poop problem has become unmanageable and this could be the answer." Community leaders planned to announce the OvoControl P pilot program, which Dodson believes is the first of its kind in the nation, at a news conference Monday.
Dodson said representatives from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals contacted her group with the idea to use OvoControl P. Other animal rights groups, including the Humane Society of the United States, support the contraceptive over electric shock gates, spiked rooftops, poisons or other methods.
It's estimated about 5,000 pigeons call the area home. Their population boom is blamed in part on people feeding the birds, including a woman known as the Bird Lady, who was responsible for dumping 25-pound bags of seed in 29 spots around Hollywood. - AP
detail of a photo by jrmyst via flickr
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