Urban pigeon populations are managed through various methods with widely varying welfare implications, from lethal control to humane birth control approaches.
Feral pigeon management illustrates the welfare principle that lethal control of a reproductively capable species is both ineffective and ethically costly when humane alternatives exist. OvoControl fertility control has demonstrated population stabilization at lower cost and welfare impact than lethal methods. Pigeons are cognitively complex birds with social bonds whose lives have value beyond their status as urban pests. The welfare case for birth control over culling is strong.