Meet Hannah Hall, who is determined to challenge the idea that pigeons are vermin and make us fall in love with these misunderstood birds again. A chance encounter with a pigeon in a beer garden completely changed Hannah’s life. The pigeon hopped onto her lap and didn’t leave her side for three and a half hours. Once it was time for Hannah to leave, she was urged by the waitress to take the pigeon with her. This moment of serendipity led to the creation of a dedicated TikTok channel for the little pigeon, named Penny, drawing in millions of views and followers.
Sadly, despite Hannah’s efforts and thousands spent in healthcare, Penny fell sick and eventually died. Devastated, Hannah was hesitant to open her heart to birds again but for Penny’s sake, she decided to help rescue more pigeons. Hannah and two other women launched Penny’s Pigeon Aid, a charity aimed at changing how people perceive pigeons, in the hope that they will be kinder to them.
Hannah believes that much of the negative perception of pigeons comes from not very nice propaganda from the ’60s, when two deaths were falsely blamed on pigeons. It was then that the term “rats with wings” was popularized. Pigeons have played a significant role in wartime, with 250,000 pigeons flown over enemy lines delivering vital messages in WW2. Amazingly, pigeons can recognise the alphabet, do simple mathematics, and even recognise cancer in humans.
Hannah says that one of the main reasons people don’t like pigeons is that there are too many of them, and they’re seen as being in the way. Penny’s Pigeon Aid aims to tackle this by encouraging councils to make
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