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June 29, 2006
Activists file complaint to stop parrot killings
Tue, 06 Dec 2005
By KEN DIXON
dixon.connpost@snet.net
HARTFORD — Animal-rights activists will appeal to the Superior Court in New Haven today to stop the United Illuminating Co.'s controversial monk parakeet eradication program.
In a one-page statement, a lawyer with a Manchester law firm representing the Friends of Animals warned UI officials Monday that the civil complaint demands an immediate halt to the program.
They charge that the company did not explore other ways to demolish the huge stick nests without killing the birds. They also claim that other species of birds that also live in the parrot nests are being harmed.
But a company official, who declined to comment because he had not seen the document as of late Monday afternoon, said that most of the birds in 103 targeted nests on UI utility poles have already been removed and killed.
The spokesman, Al Carbone, told the Connecticut Post Monday that he expects the actual destruction of the nests to begin this week, after all the structures have been emptied. Hooks will be attached to pull the nests down; UI will temporarily shut off electric service to some customers, Carbone said.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is euthanizing monk para-keets after UI crews remove them, said she believes the only way the program can be halted would be for the state General Assembly to rule that the birds are not invasive.
Priscilla Feral, president of the Darien-based Friends of Animals, said Monday that the lawsuit charges that the extermination of the bright green birds, which live in thatched colonies along the coast, violates state environmental law.
“We intend to prove that feasible, prudent alternatives to killing parakeets exist,'' she said. “There has been no proof shown that monk parakeets damage the ecosystem, and they shouldn't be considered an invasive species.''
The utility claims the birds' large stick nests cause power outages and fires. The eradication program is mostly focused in West Haven, with other nests in Milford, Stratford, Bridgeport and Fairfield.
Carbone said the destruction of the nests couldn't begin until all resident birds were captured and turned over to the USDA crews, which have been asphyxiating them in carbon dioxide chambers.
Monk parakeets are actually classified as parrots, despite the name.
Corey L. Slavitt, spokeswoman for the USDA, said Monday that there has not been an update on the number of birds killed. By last week, about 154 parrots had been killed.
Over the last three weeks, bird lovers from throughout the state and nation have called UI and the Friends of Animals in an attempt to halt the killing. Many cite programs in New Jersey and New York City, where the nests are torn off utility poles in the spring and the birds released unharmed.
E.J. McAdams, executive director of the New York City Audubon Society, said Monday that there are numerous monk parakeet colonies in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
“We know where all the nests are and a number of our members enjoy them,'' McAdams said.
Slavitt, the USDA spokeswoman, said a UI subcontractor asked for federal assistance in killing the birds because other removal efforts had not worked. She said the birds cannot be relocated or given for adoption, because of their status as an invasive species.
“The Connecticut General Assembly could vote to make them non-invasive,'' Slavitt said.
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