Creatures - Authorization granted for pigeon reduction in Limburg
In Limburg, citizens have spoken on the matter of killing pigeons. On Sunday, a citizen's vote revealed that 53.45% of the participants were in favor of a solution proposed by the city council last year. The results were shared by the city in the evening.
The council had previously made a decision, supported by a majority, to hire a falconer to address the pigeon issue. During discussions, the idea of breaking the birds' necks to kill them was raised. Earlier, a count had revealed the presence of around 700 pigeons in the city.
This decision led to objections from animal rights groups and various responses from across Germany. The council responded by calling for a citizen's vote after enough signatures were collected against killing the birds.
In total, approximately 26,500 citizens of Limburg were eligible to participate in the vote. The voting process took place alongside the European election and the county council election in the Limburg-Weilburg district.
Mayor Marius Hahn (SPD) commented on the result, stating, "We didn't anticipate how the outcome would be today. The citizens have exercised their right and decided that the pigeon population will be reduced using a falconer who stuns and kills the birds within the next two years."
Animal rights activists expected a "compassionate outcome in the citizens' vote." They believed that Limburg citizens "would choose the morally correct option and therefore against the gruesome killing of pigeons by breaking their necks - that's outdated and inappropriate when dealing with wild animals under human care."
Both the German Animal Welfare Federation and the State Animal Welfare Association Hesse, along with the Animal Welfare Association Limburg, urged voters not to support the killing of pigeons.
In citizen votes, voters must answer a question that can be answered with "yes" or "no." The outcome is determined by the majority of valid votes. Additionally, this majority must represent a minimum share of eligible voters in the city, which varies depending on the population. In this case, 25% of the eligible votes in Limburg equated to at least 6,662 participants having to cast their vote. If these numbers are not met by either the "yes" or the "no" votes, the municipal council must discuss and decide on the matter again.
