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From: Hillside contact@hillside.org.uk
I am writing to you regarding the worrying and inaccurate e-mail which was written by PICAS and circulated by veteran rights campaigner, Linda Furness, claiming that Hillside was in some way planning a secret cull of pigeons. The information was not only misleading but potentially very damaging to Hillside. During the past years we have taken in many rescued birds and allowed them to fly free, resulting in an over-population of doves and pigeons at Hillside. Despite trying to control their numbers by replacing eggs with dummy ones, the numbers have increased more than we anticipated. Not being experts in these matters, a member of staff began making tentative enquiries seeking advice in humanely controlling their numbers. At this time we were not aware of PICAS and a firm (who said they provided 'humane' control) was located on a website, gave us a site survey and we subsequently received a quotation - for lethally dealing with the birds. This type of 'humane' certainly wasn't what we had in mind, so no further action was taken. Shortly after this, Emma Haskell from PICAS Ltd coincidentally came to the Sanctuary for a tour and on discovering her expertise in holistically dealing with pigeon excesses, we invited her into the office to discuss how her company could help us. She was shown the quotation and was told quite categorically that it wasn't of interest to us. She requested a copy and we are shocked at the way this information, which was freely given to her, has been misappropriated in the distributed e-mail. If we were intending to cull the birds, we would have hardly told Emma about the problem or asked her advice at all.
You will now gather from the way PICAS has conducted themselves, that we will no longer be using their services but are having talks with another company that advises about non-lethal control of pigeons and doves. We are in the process of building an aviary, (measuring120' x 12'), and taking advice on the best way to transfer the birds without causing any stress to them.
As you can imagine, having pigeons in a feed barn presents quite a problem. Although the feed is stored in covered containers, the difficulties arise when these are opened to transfer the feed to the animals' feed bins. These have to be placed temporarily on the ground while it is being portioned out and awaiting transfer to the trailer. It is during this time that the pigeons swoop to feed.
Unfortunately, PICAS have omitted to present both sides of the story and for the record I feel I must mention that since 1996 Hillside has donated hundreds of pounds every year to Lyn and Maggie's pigeon sanctuary. This, to date, has totalled over £5,000 we have given to help with the feed and care of their rescued birds, so it is most distressing to learn that people could think that I would have even considered treating our own pigeons in such a heartless way.
We have never made a secret of the fact that we are not a registered charity. If were to become one, we would be forced by the Charity Commission to cease most of the hugely successful campaigning work against the legal practice of factory farming for which we have become known. We are registered as a non profit-making organisation set up with good financial and legal advice to ensure maximum benefits. There are three shares valued at £1 each and NO shareholders taking profit. Every penny is accounted for and goes towards the care of our rescued animals, most of which were rescued from a life of misery in the factory farming industry. Hillside is set up so that even in the future it exists entirely for animals' benefit.
What mostly concerns us about this is that some have already taken the word of PICAS and have been extremely aggressive towards Hillside without waiting to hear what we have to say. Because of the seriousness of the allegations, we are considering taking legal advice, which thanks to PICAS will take valuable resources from where it is needed most - our animals.
Yours sincerely
Wendy Valentine
PS: At the time of writing, all our doves and pigeons are still flying free. Their only destiny will be to live out their days in the spacious aviary being built specially for them.
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