problem is, pigeons carry *several* diseases that are transmittable to humans
Try as I might, I can't find anything to support the idea that feral populations are any more dangerous than captive populations or even captive parrots for that matter. You can certainly find a long list of diseases communicable between poultry (of various sorts) and humans but I can't find anything to indicate a higher incidence in wild birds or a greater danger of transmission. Some of them are probably even worse in farm bred populations where overcrowding may be much worse than in the wild (that's pure speculation on my part).
And where do you shop that fresh squab is cheap? I can get cheap frozen squab in chinatown, but all the fresh poultry dealers charge a pretty penny.
That said, I agree we'll never get rid of them. But if we made them a bit more useful the annoyance factor would at least go down.
NIMBY
Try as I might, I can't find anything to support the idea that feral populations are any more dangerous than captive populations or even captive parrots for that matter. You can certainly find a long list of diseases communicable between poultry (of various sorts) and humans but I can't find anything to indicate a higher incidence in wild birds or a greater danger of transmission. Some of them are probably even worse in farm bred populations where overcrowding may be much worse than in the wild (that's pure speculation on my part).
And where do you shop that fresh squab is cheap? I can get cheap frozen squab in chinatown, but all the fresh poultry dealers charge a pretty penny.
That said, I agree we'll never get rid of them. But if we made them a bit more useful the annoyance factor would at least go down.