We applaud those who show compassion towards the fat, feathered, bike-lane blocking disease bags that call our city home, be it the NYPD or a St. Francis stand-in. But saving a wounded pigeon is a Sisyphean effort: there's a good chance it will be euthanized, and there is no shortage of pigeons. "I think it's very nice that someone is willing to take care of these sick animals in the city," Dr. Charles Welcott, a former director of the Cornell Lab of Orinthology tells the Times. "But as a nasty biologist I think it probably doesn't make a difference in the big scheme."
The paper profiles freelance opera singer Jennifer Dudley's efforts to save injured and ill pigeons, tucking them into her bag until they can be examined at the Wild Bird Fund. Dudley, a member of the New York City Pigeon Rescue Central, says that around 20 pigeons are rescued a month. "Lots of us see how pigeons are maligned and ignored. If you have that thread running through you, you know what it's like," she says. If you're Mike Tyson, that means punching someone in the face for the birds.
This is their connection with nature," Dr. Welcott says of the pigeon rescuers. "And I think that's totally laudable." Not to mention it's a favor the pigeon will never forget.
