In January 2001, PETA learned that General Motors (GM) administrators routinely ordered maintenance crews to trap and drown "nuisance" animals, such as raccoons and coyotes, at the Milford Proving Grounds plant in Michigan. We fired off a letter of protest to GM President and CEO G. Richard Wagoner Jr., and in March, GM agreed to stop permitting employees to drown animals. Now, wild animals are humanely trapped and released. However, just days after receiving this news, PETA found out that GM was using Avitrol to poison birds at the Truck Products Center in Pontiac. Again, we sent a letter to the president, asking GM to discontinue the use of the Avitrol and rely on humane methods of control if necessary. In response, we received a letter from GM stating that on our advice, the company has directed its suppliers to stop the use of Avitrol to control birds immediately.

PETA wrote letters, made phone calls, and issued action alerts to all our members in Iowa, asking them to contact their representatives in Des Moines and ask that they oppose House File 43 or any other legislation that would establish a mourning dove hunting season in Iowa. We also sent a letter to Governor Tom Vilsack, asking him to veto S.F. 37 and any other dove-hunting legislation that passed the House and Senate. House File 43 passed the House and Senate by narrow margins, but on January 30, Governor Vilsack vetoed the bill.

Cathy Goeggel of Animal Rights of Hawaii informed PETA that Honolulu's City Council was considering spending $42,000 to hire the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services (USDA-WS) to capture and kill pigeons in several local parks to reduce the threat of disease and structural damage attributed to the pigeon population.

We immediately faxed a letter to Mayor Jeremy Harris asking the City Council to halt plans to contract with USDA-WS and adopt a humane, integrated pigeon-control program instead. We shared a copy of the letter with a reporter, who covered the story for the Star-Bulletin in Honolulu.

Goeggel, members of Animal Rights of Hawaii, animal activists, and bird caregivers attended a City Council meeting to oppose the plan to kill pigeons. At the conclusion of the meeting, the city parks director acknowledged that city officials had not studied the issue thoroughly enough and said that they would not move forward until they fully explored a nonlethal program.

Michigan pro-hunting lobbyists rallied at the State Capitol and convinced the House of Representatives to repeal the state's ban on dove hunting. These gentle birds have been protected in Michigan for 95 years and have for centuries remained the universal symbol of peace.

In response, PETA posted an action alert on the our Web site and called our Michigan members, asking them to contact their state senators and urge them to oppose any legislation that would establish a mourning dove hunting season in Michigan. Michigan senators were inundated with calls, letters, faxes, and e-mail messages from constituents pleading with them not to support dove-hunting legislation.

On Thursday, December 14, the dove-hunting bill finally arrived on the Senate floor. It was defeated by one vote.

A year ago, PETA began receiving complaints about the use of Avitrol to poison pigeons and other birds at Maryview Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. After we provided the director of engineering with information on humane alternatives, he said that the hospital would stop poisoning pigeons and implement an effective, long-term pigeon control program.

We then received a call from residents in the hospital's neighborhood about a pigeon writhing in pain on their front lawn. When a rescue team arrived at the scene, they found the pigeon shaking uncontrollably from seizures and gasping for air, clearly symptoms of Avitrol poisoning. A few days later, PETA began receiving complaints from Maryview patients and staff about the use of poison to kill pigeons. We contacted the hospital's executive vice director and asked him to respond to our complaint. He called to say that the hospital had stopped poisoning the pigeons.

Then, in October, we again began to receive complaints about dead and dying pigeons near Maryview. This time, we contacted reporters at a local television station and asked them to investigate. The station ran a piece on our frustrated efforts to stop the poisoning of pigeons at the hospital. As a result, Maryview Medical Center has finally pledged to stop poisoning pigeons once and for all.