Culling Wellington's pigeons, does Jesus have a sense of humour, and public transport

At euthanasia's coal face

Justine Armstrong expresses horror at seeing pigeons dying in Wellington's Ghuznee St.

The agent used to euthanase the birds is alpha chloralose, a stupefying narcotic that suppresses the birds' respiratory and cardiac system in the same way that tens of thousands of domestic pets are euthanased annually in this country. I challenge her supposition that the birds are "obviously in pain".

She correctly observes that the birds are disoriented and confused.

The real point to be made is that the coal face of urban animal management is repugnant.

In the case of pigeons, I think we have danced around the sensitivities of naive people with selective morality, narrow vision and leather handbags long enough. Decisions have been made and the job is being done.

If objectors can't handle theresult of the decision, they should get involved, or stop whining and turn their heads. I take my hat off to the people in animal shelters and veterinary clinics who effect the true horror so the rest of us don't have to see it.

STEPHEN LAYTON

Waikanae

Heard the one about Jesus?

Thank you for Tom Scott's cartoon of the confessional. It was funny, and a reassuring reminder of our humanity.

Heck, were the Church perfect, it would have no room for people like me.

Believe it or not, Catholics are good at laughing at themselves, and they have a great fund of jokes. Have you heard this one?

A messenger rushed into the Vatican: "Holy Father! I have good news and bad news.

"Jesus has returned to earth as he promised. I've just been talking to him on the phone." The Pope was overjoyed.

"That's marvellous! After that, what can be the bad news?"

The messenger replied, "He was calling from Salt Lake City."

JOY COWLEY

Pipitea

Pope's censure is bewildering

I am bemused that Pope Benedict XVI feels pressured into censuring that good Catholic, Bishop Richard Williamson, who has been condemned by Jewish groups and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for views he might have held on the Holocaust.

I have perused my catechism and can find no doctrine that binds the faithful to accept claims by Jews or any others regarding the nature and/or number of atrocities committed by the Nazis against Jews, Catholics, gypsies, intellectuals, communists, the mentally ill or otherwise imperfect, and countless others who, for whatever reason, fell foul of a murderous regime.

From what I've read and know of Bishop Williamson, he seeks to safeguard and pass on the deposit of faith crucial to our salvation. The only Jew that the Pope need heed absolutely is he who founded the Church and remains its permanent head, our lord and saviour, Jesus Christ.

But then, he also was condemned by the Jews ...

PHILIP LYNCH

Elderslea

Religious and political

Graeme Davidson's venture into the tricky waters of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Religion and Ethics, Feb 7-8) generated more heat than light.

Wellington Catholic Archbishop John Dew was correct to apologise for the actions of Father Gerry Burns. Any protest against Israel's actions must make quite clear that the state, not people of Jewish faith or ethnicity, is the target. I believe that Father Burns' actions, though clearly motivated by compassion and a concern for justice, didn't make this distinction.

When a senior churchman, wearing his vestments of office, splatters paint and blood over a monument of great emotional symbolism to another faith community, his action automatically takes on a religious, as well as political, dimension. It also automatically implicates all of his faith (including me) in that action.

It's doubly sad that this took place in Wellington, a city that has always enjoyed reasonably harmonious relations between religious groups, a city in which Archbishop Francis Redwood and Rabbi Herman van Staveren would regularly meet for morning coffee in Boulcott St.

The aim of this protest was presumably to end the fighting in Gaza. It would be a tragedy if the only result were to open a second front in Wellington.

JOHN SULLIVAN

Aro Valley

Reasonable conclusions

While my heart obviously goes out to Olga Tuckerman on the loss of her home in the Australian bush- fires, the stoic acceptance of the loss of her home as an inexplicable act of God frustrated me.

She begins by thanking God for sparing her life (though I wonder why he didn't do the same for those people who weren't so lucky), and then shows complete loyalty to him in his decision to raze the precious home she shared with her late husband.

For me, any reasonable person can draw only two conclusions from this awful disaster. The first is that God is a bloodthirsty, ecocidal tyrant, who takes great pleasure in seeing his children suffer. The second is that he doesn't exist.

DEREK HOPPER

Te Aro

Council: it was not us

I write in response to Justine Armstrong who claimed city officials condoned the poisoning of pigeons in and around Ghuznee St.

We don't condone putting animals through a long and drawn-out death and haven't been involved in a pigeon-eradication programme in the city, though we are aware that, from time to time, pigeons are poisoned around the central business district.

Last year, after complaints about pigeons soiling seating and footpaths and entering food premises, we investigated the best way to deal with the problem, including lethal methods.

However, it became evident that, though pigeons are a problem in certain areas, no simple or short-term solution exists.

Our preferred way to deal with the problem is to work with business-owners and food premises to pigeon-proof their buildings and stop pigeons entering shops. We also discourage people from feeding the birds and leaving food scraps lying around.

It's understandable that people thought the council was involved with the recent poisoning. We received a number of complaints and our staff did help dispose of some dead birds. However, the council was not involved in the poisoning.

DEREK FRY

Wellington City Council

Let's go back to the past

Many pensioners, including me, find themselves paying three or four times as much for bus/train travel as they did when the $5 day-pass was available.

Metlink has decided that the afternoon peak time shall be from 3pm-6.30pm. This differs from what actually occurs.

Public transport at 3pm has few passengers, crowding becoming apparent only after 4pm. It doesn't get serious till at least 4.30pm. At 6pm, buses and trains certainly have sitting room.

A more realistic peak period would be 4.30pm-6pm. Additionally, pensioners subject to this draconian rule merely use their cars when they must travel for appointments, contributing to much more serious road congestion, which actually does start about 3pm.

The object of public transport is to reduce the number of cars on the road. Metlink's heavy-handed attitude merely reverses that sensible policy to everyone's detriment.

The answer is simple: bring back the $5 go-anywhere day-pass, letting it run in conjunction with the "free" travel for pensioners. At present, "free" travel is considerably more expensive than the $5 day-pass ever was.

KEN MOSLEY

Silverstream

TO THE POINT

Cartoonist Tom Scott's obsession with bishops in kinky underwear is tedious. If you have any control over him - as you should - please tell him to stop.

DAVID GRACE, Karori

Your editorial, Villainy behind the stumps, was certainly topical, given the profile of the Chappell-Hadlee series. However, Brad Haddin's appeal was for Neil Broom's being bowled, not caught behind, after Haddin's glove had dislodged the bail. No doubt, the extent of Haddin's knowledge will be debated ad infinitum, given the split-second timing of the incident.

PAUL MEARS, Tawa

Victoria's state and Australia's federal governments are responsible for mass murder for not organising a co-ordinated evacuation plan in the most at-risk bushfire areas, despite having full knowledge days in advance of the conditions to come.

STAN MACKOWIAK, Levin

I wonder why highly inflammable trees are permitted in areas of Australia that have a high fire-risk record?

GEOFF MANNING, Heretaunga

I agree entirely with Heather Bray about the need for at least a 20 per cent deposit when applying to a bank for a mortgage. I think earlier correspondent Noel Salisbury's thoughts might be influenced by the fact that he was, for many years, a real estate agent in Tawa. He might still be one.

Dr A LESLIE FLORENCE, Paraparaumu

Jeanette Fitzsimons says that the SIS should investigate no MP, including Keith Locke, because they were all "elected by the people". No Green MP was elected; they're all list MPs. None of them, as with all lists MPs, has an electorate to answer to so maybe someone should be keeping an eye on them.

COLIN MOORE, Ngaio

P Miller says Jordan was created at Israel's expense by splitting Israel in two. Strange. Jordan (initially as Transjordan) was formalised on April 11, 1921. Israel wasn't created until May 14, 1948.

DON CARSON, Wadestown

On Tuesday, I read that the Government was preparing to trim tens of millions of dollars of departmental spending as it embarked on a line-by-line review of their budgets. I thought, "Yes, we all have to make sacrifices." The next day, I read that the Government was to announce a $300 million deal to settle three big Treaty claims. I feel tricked.

REG FOWLES, Shannon

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