The streets of San Antonio could become the official strut grounds for its wild peafowl population if a citywide policy proposed by District 7 Council Member Marina Alderete Gavito gets the green light. The flamboyant birds, recognized as an informal emblem in certain communities, have sparked a debate over their well-being and the nuisance they could cause to residents, as the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Supported by five city council members, Gavito's initiative is aimed at ensuring these exotic birds are handled with care where capturing, killing, shooting, or trapping is concerned, a move that could lead to a $500 fine if done by the unlicensed, she told FOX San Antonio. The peafowl are not just a spectacle but are animals in need of protection from harm and potentially lethal human interference, like that incident when a peacock was injured after being forcibly removed from a local neighborhood, sparking this whole bird-brained initiative in the first place.
While Animal Care Services does not currently deal with peafowl unless there is a cruelty complaint or an injury, Gavito's proposal could empower them to take a gentler approach in removing and relocating these birds, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Not all residents see eye to eye on the presence of these birds; while some herald them as a neighborhood treasure, others are at their wits' end with the damage and disruption caused by the feathery intruders.
Lynn Cuny, Founder of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, asserted the need to safeguard these animals from being targeted as pests, underscoring it's not just about them being inhumane because that's always been the case but now it's illegal, heightening their protection and reducing vulnerability, she explained to FOX San Antonio. The San Antonio City Council's Public Safety Committee is anticipated to deliberate on this request in the near future, determining whether these peafowl will continue to parade the city's neighborhoods with legal backing or if they'll be left to fend for themselves against the pecking order of urban life.
