The association Paris Animaux Zoopolis (PAZ) filed a complaint on January 13 against the city hall of Asnières-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine) for mistreatment of the city’s pigeons, France Bleu Paris learned on Wednesday, January 18.
The city hall of Asnières-sur-Seine is targeted by a complaint, filed by the association Paris Animaux Zoopolis for mistreatment of pigeons in the city. PAZ has also filed a complaint against the hygiene company SAPIAN and against X for “serious abuse of animals”. It accuses them of leaving pigeons to die in cages and gassing live birds. This is what she denounces in an investigation published this Tuesday on the Internet and social networks that France Bleu Paris could consult.
“While ethical and effective methods exist, many cities still use cruel methods to limit pigeon populations,” says PAZ. The association denounces a “campaign of gassing of pigeons ordered by the city of Asnières”. It disseminates photos and video of the birds, “the pigeons are captured in cages where they have neither water nor shelter. Birds die of thirst or exhaustion, corpses are abandoned near the cages, the surviving pigeons are recovered in vulgar buckets to be gassed”, continues the association.
It is the SAPIAN company that installs cages on the roofs of buildings where the pigeons are baited with corn. “We call on the mayor [Manuel Aeschlimann] to terminate the contract that authorizes SAPIAN to capture pigeons to gas them,” says the statement. The capture of pigeons in cages and gassing are legal practices in France, but PAZ criticizes operations that would be opaque and “cruel”.
An online petition
The town hall of Asnières said it was “very surprised” by the images of the association. “This does not correspond at all to the contract that we have with our provider,” said Thierry Le Gac, deputy mayor of Asnières delegated to hygiene. On the images of the association, we also see an employee of the company SAPIAN kick a dead pigeon, without picking it up, which is prohibited. “If these images are accurate and shot on Asnières, the city will also file a complaint against SAPIAN,” promises the deputy.
In November 2020, the town hall of Asnières-sur-Seine had already been pinned for a campaign of “barbaric” de-pigeoning by the association Bird Rescue. A petition had then collected 50,000 signatures. This time, the association PAZ calls for two rallies this Wednesday at 7 pm in front of the city hall of the 19th district of Paris and this Friday at 12:30 pm in front of the city hall of Asnières. It has also launched a petition which has so far collected about 100 signatures.
