A FEW misguided individuals regard urban pigeons as their domestic pets.

With a little research, Heather Causnett (Letters, June 22) would realise that a mating pair will typically have three or four broods a year, usually two eggs at a time. That seems to give good odds on the survival and proliferation of the species. If they have "such a hard fight to make it" how come there are so many of them?

The uric acid in pigeon faeces is highly corrosive and damaging to buildings. Given the historical significance of much of York's architecture it would seem pigeons are undesirable in the city.

My original suggestion wasn't to kill pigeons, just that we should not feed them. My concern for other creatures is one of the reasons I do not eat meat - so you see, Mrs Carter, it wasn't me stuffing my face with a meat pie (Letters, June 29) - and why I practice organic cultivation on my allotment.

I wouldn't allow a pet dog to beg at my dinner table, so why should I have to put up with 30 pigeons flapping in my face and pecking at my feet while I try to enjoy my lunch in King's Square?

Jason Rayner,

Wenlock Terrace, York.

Updated: 10:50 Thursday, July 01, 2004