What’s on Somerville Neighborhood News
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By Yuxiao Yuan, SNN reporter

Alarmed at the amount of pigeons in Union and other squares, and the health issues associated with the food they don’t eat… and the food they do eat… members of the city’s Board of Alderman’s Public Health and Public Safety Committee recently asked city officials to undertake a public information campaign with an important message: “Don’t Feed the Birds!”

“It’s not just that we don’t want you to feed the birds. The reason we don’t want you to feed the birds is because we’re concerned about it attracting other pests,” Director of Health Paulette Renault Caragianes explained as she stood surrounded by birds and their leavings on a recent afternoon in Union Square.

“Birds typically don’t finish everything that’s left out for them. Someone will bring a half a container of stale bread, or something like that. What’s left over gets eaten, and it’s not eaten by birds; it’s eaten by rodents,” she said.

According to city laws (Zoning ordinance 3-3), it is illegal to feed the birds “in or on all sidewalks, streets, parks or other public property.

Somerville Neighborhood News is a community service production of Somerville Community Access Television. For the full story and other segments, visit www.somervilleneighborhoodnews.org.