THEY are an omnipresent, filthy, disease-carrying scourge - but residents of Paris have banded together to protect the rights of the French capital's pigeons.
Remy Feraud, mayor of the 10th arrondissement, announced a proposal to deploy several birds of prey to scare pigeons away.
In a statement on his website Feraud said the pigeons posed a "real health risk" as they can carry diseases dangerous to humans, while the cost of repairing damage from their droppings on public housing amounted to a whopping 150,000 annually.
The plan has shocked bird lovers at the Ambassade des pigeons (Pigeon Embassy) which, along with other groups, has launched a petition to protect the birds.
An attempt by authorities to cut down on the city's rat population is also the subject of a petition which describes the move as a potential "rodent genocide".
while very convenient, the rise and rise of online shopping may have the inadvertent effect of impacting the health of people because they aren't having to carry bags of groceries any more.
Britain's Chartered Society of Physiotherapists has warned that almost 25% of people aged over 65 do not do any strength exercises, and that daily activities such as shopping, gardening and vacuuming can help avoid falls.
"We're carrying fewer bags home from the supermarket because it arrives at our door...we're also waiting at home for deliveries when in the past we would have gone out to buy them," said a spokesperson.
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