The man saving Manchester’s city pigeons from ‘stringfoot’
The man saving Manchester's city pigeons from 'stringfoot'
A man has been patrolling the streets of Manchester to save our city’s pigeons from a condition known as ‘stringfoot’.
We all walk past hundreds of the birds every day in the city centre and they often get a bad rap – but one now-viral TikTok account is hoping to change all that.
In a series of heartwarming videos, one man has been heading out in his free time to treat pigeons afflicted with the dreaded ‘stringfoot’.
It’s a common sight now to see pigeons missing toes or walking around Manchester on deformed feet, which is often caused when the poor birds become tangled up in foreign matter.
Sometimes this is bits of string, plastic, thread, hair or a number of other things usually dropped by humans.
But with quick intervention from Tom, he can save these pigeons from a life of limping around town.
He’s been heading out armed with bags of seed to lure groups of pigeons close to him, before carefully catching the afflicted animal and carefully cutting away the material around its foot.
He uses things like stitch pickers to remove the thread, before cleaning up the pigeon’s foot with saline spray and antiseptic and gently releasing them again.
Tom said he started helping pigeons ‘sort of by accident’ when a bird with stringfoot came up to his flat.
In one month alone, he was able to catch and treat 15 pigeons, saving them from infection and injury.
And the account is getting lots of love and driving awareness for stringfoot and changing people’s perception of pigeons.
One person wrote on one of Tom’s videos: “We did pigeons so wrong as a society. Thanks for helping!”
Another said: “Pigeons Are NOT TRASH, they are a birds, who need help like cats, dogs and every living animals.”
And someone else commented: “These sort of videos make me cry because we’re so mean to pigeons, this might be the first time someone’s done something kind to them.”
You can find out more on how to help pigeons in your area HERE.
Read more
- Opening date for Britain’s first standalone Primark Home store in Manchester announced
- The NBA is coming to Manchester for just the second time ever
- Cult favourite clothing brand Clints has dropped the lineup for the first-ever music festival
Featured image: TikTok, @heyitstommm