No chickening out of tough steps

Not all feral animals going about their business within city limits prompt the same reaction from residents. While stray dogs, cats, cows and other quadrupeds are regarded as irksome by many, wild urban monkeys are an emerging nuisance for residents from Bijnor to Siddipet, not to mention major metros. But birds rarely figure in such lists. Indeed, pigeons and their detritus at common feeding spots around cities have come into focus of late as Indians are reluctant to comply with the health authorities’ exhortations not to feed birds despite the re-emergence of avian flu.

Even cricketer Shikhar Dhawan being booked for feeding a bird in Varanasi recently is unlikely to deter our intrepid bird feeders. So, Indians are unlikely to sympathise with the exasperated residents of the city of Key West in Florida who have got city authorities to pass an ordinance to prevent people from feeding feral chickens. Poultry are not generally seen as a menace, but the experience of the island city is a cautionary tale. A recent unanimously passed ordinance decrees that anyone caught feeding the birds will be fined $250-500 as chickens can ‘carry and spread diseases, destroy property, and cause copious amounts of fecal deposits on public property’. Aggressive chickens attack passers-by there thinking they may be carrying food. Sounds familiar?