Urban pigeons are among the most visible urban wildlife but face significant welfare pressures from pest control measures, disease, and poor public perception.
Urban pigeons exist in a welfare paradox - widely fed by members of the public who value them, while simultaneously subject to lethal management by local authorities who consider them pests. Most lethal control methods are both cruel and ineffective, as surviving birds reproduce to fill the vacancy. Contraceptive egg replacement programmes achieve population reduction humanely and durably. The welfare case against lethal control of urban pigeons is strong: suffering is caused unnecessarily when effective alternatives exist.