Chicago may punish pigeon feeders

CHICAGO, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Two Chicago aldermen are calling for fines of up to $1,000 and jail sentences of up to six months for people who feed the city's pigeons.

"No person shall purposely provide food -- including, but not limited to grain, seeds, greens, bread crumbs and miscellaneous food scraps -- intended for pigeon ingestion on public property or property subject to the city right-of-way," the proposed ordinance says. Aldermen Danny Solis and Helen Shiller introduced it at a City Council meeting Wednesday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday.

Violating the ordinance would result in fines of "not less than $100 or more than $1,000" and up to six months in jail.

Solis said well-fed pigeons in the city each drop 25 pounds of fecal matter every year.

"It doesn't look good to have all of this fecal matter around a very beautiful monument" at 18th and Blue Island, Solis said.

The droppings "causing damage -- not only to property, but to health .... Whenever they overfeed them, rats gather around the statue. That's another health problem," Solis said.