London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Ealing 1963

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Ealing]

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PUBLIC HEALTH ACT, 1961—DESTRUCTION OF PIGEONS
Section 74 of this Act gives local authorities power to deal with nuisances caused by
the congregation of pigeons and certain other birds in built-up areas. The arrangement
whereby the Council exercised these powers by employing a specialist firm to deal with
such infestations of pigeons in various areas in the Borough, and which was commenced
in 1962 was continued in 1963. A new contract for 12 months was entered into in April.
A total of 3,173 pigeons was destroyed during the year, and the work resulted in a
very marked improvement in many sites in the Borough where previous infestations
had been heavy and had caused serious nuisance and inconvenience from roosting and
fouling. Particular attention was given to a number of railway bridges, notably those
in the Perivale and West Twyford areas.
The methods used were mainly trapping and shooting with the occasional use of
repellents, and all the work was carried out in accordance with the Protection of
Birds Act, 1954, and to the satisfaction of the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals and the local police. The use of narcotics was excluded, owing to
the difficulties associated with the recovery of narcotised birds in such a built-up area.
PUBLIC MORTUARY
As there is no Public Mortuary in this Borough, existing arrangements continued
with the Acton Borough Council for the use of the mortuary at Acton. The number
of bodies taken there was 388 and post-mortem examinations were carried out in
all cases. Similar arrangements were also continued with the Uxbridge Borough
Council for the use of their mortuary and 69 bodies were dealt with at Uxbridge and
post-mortem examinations made.
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