Balzan 2016

A Balzan councillor has compared the quiet village to a war zone after gun-totting men yesterday afternoon were permitted to shoot down pigeons, whose over-population has reduced them to the status of pests, according to some.

Desmond Zammit Marmara had objected to the pigeon cull from the outset.

"In our quiet village, there were some who acted like they were in a war zone: armed men in the streets, pigeon shooting in front of children, blood on the facades of private residences, people crying when they witnessed the cruelty, disgusted tourists. And, as everyone has remarked, nothing has been solved," Mr Zammit Marmara' said.  

Another councillor, Joe Galea, who actually raises racing pigeons, said that what happened was not pleasant, but the council had no choice.

The pigeon problem in the village had grown to the extent that four people had received hospital treatment after being taken ill because of pigeon droppings, he said.

These pigeons were considered as flying rats, and even the Animal Welfare Department did not want to get involved, he said.

Various alternatives to the shoot had been discussed, he said, but none were effective. Poisoning by tampering with food sources would have been more cruel, catching the birds was very difficult, and simply scaring them away would only have amounted to shifting the problem to other streets.

He said everything that was done was perfectly legal, pointing out that airguns and not normal shotguns were used.  

A pigeon cull in Sliema to rid the area of “an uncontrollable infestation” last November had also angered residents.