Mumbaikar Human ‘Pigeons’ Make Appeal for Real Pigeons in Heartwarming Video
In a new video by PETA India, Mumbaikar humans wear pigeon masks and go about their day, including riding the train, buying flowers for their wife, getting a vada pav, and driving a black and yellow cab to make the point that pigeons, like us, are Mumbaikars through and through.
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The video aims to encourage compassion for pigeons and appeals for a reversal of feeding bans as imposed by the Bombay High Court at the city’s kabutarkhaanas.
Pigeons are Mumbaikars simply trying to survive, just as we are, and abruptly stopping their feeding after generations is causing them to suffer.Replacing the feeding ban with reasonable feeding timings and cleaning schedules would show Mumbai respects tradition and leads practically and with compassion.
Fears around pigeon-related health risks are exaggerated. An RTI response from Mumbai’s three largest civic hospitals shows that only 0.3% of respiratory illness cases in 2024 were linked to pigeon exposure. International research also demonstrates that the risk of disease transmission from pigeons to humans is very low, even for people who are in close and regular contact with them. And pigeons are naturally resistant to bird flu.
Nevertheless, to address concerns while safeguarding pigeons and the tradition of feeding by Jains and other compassionate persons, PETA India has proposed three other practical steps to the government: designating specific feeding times and hubs at kabutarkhanas, ensuring regular cleaning and sanitation at these sites, and installing multilingual messages educating the public on proper feeding practices and the minimal health risks posed by pigeons.
PETA India has also written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on a pigeon population control method successfully implemented in several European cities. This approach combines the other measures PETA India has recommended with dovecotes that allow the replacement of eggs with dummy eggs. The system can be implemented easily and would allow Mumbai to reduce pigeon numbers gradually and humanely, while maintaining pigeon welfare, cultural and religious practices.
Mumbai’s kabutarkhanas are century-old spaces of cultural and religious importance, where countless citizens – many of them seniors – experience comfort and fulfilment in feeding pigeons. The birds, who have been fed at these places for generations, depend on this food source for survival. Criminalising or dismantling traditional feeding sites risks cruelty and would undermine the spirit of our Constitutional duty under Article 51A(g) to show compassion to all living beings, as well as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
