VCAT orders pigeon-loving South Yarra woman to stop feeding birds
Gourmet pigeons who have flocked to a South Yarra woman for years will go hungry, after her neighbours got into a flap over the smell and mess they caused. Here’s how it unfolded.
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A pigeon-adoring woman who’s fed birds from her apartment balcony for three decades has been ordered to stop amid a neighbourhood flap over the smell and mess.
Lora Stock has watered and fed the birds since 1993 — even adding garlic, spices and multivitamins to their grain for a “superior” diet.
But the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has now ordered the South Yarra woman stop.
Neighbours told the tribunal scores of birds came and went from Ms Stock’s Kensington Rd unit each day — leaving a stinky mess of bird droppings, feathers, seed and dust.
Pigeon poo had blocked drains and dirty water leaked into apartments below, with the pigeons sometimes fluttering into other units if windows were left open and crashing into shut ones, the tribunal heard.
One resident told the Sunday Herald Sun he believed there was “absolutely no way” Ms Stock would stop feeding the pigeons, despite the ruling.
An expert found high concentrations of bacteria in her unit as well as faecal matter, pigeons and feathers — presenting a health hazard.
Traces of pigeon dander, material similar to dandruff, was also found.
Ms Stock told the tribunal some of the pigeons were spirits, insisting the birds caused no harm and “vengeance monger” neighbours had an axe to grind.
“Some (pigeons) have been around 15 years so they’ve become pets, like some people have cats and dogs, and they have become domesticated,” she told the tribunal.
“Some need rehabilitating and they stay at the premises. Some may never fly . . some of them are reincarnations of previous pigeons that have died and I don’t want to get rid of them … some of these pigeons, they bring me their babies.”
Ms Stock told the tribunal the birds were “not your gutter scavenging pigeons” and were fed “superior food” with garlic and hot spice powder put in their grain.
Multi-vitamins and supplements were also mixed in their food and they received vet care and medication when injured or ill.
“The pigeons … in no way interfere with anyone’s life or amenity,” Ms Stock wrote in an email to the tribunal.
“Granted, the number frequenting have gradually increased … as a result of council erecting signs in parks prohibiting feeding pigeons. Public housing tenants have also been instructed to not feed pigeons … as a consequence the birds are starving, they simply cannot obtain enough natural feed in the inner city. Bird species and numbers of birds have diminished markedly … the iconic pigeons in the park have all gone.”
Ms Stock must cease feeding the birds by 4pm on May 1.
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