Forum Topic

Woman fined for feeding ducks in Walpole Park

There has been a bit of a kerfuffle about this incident which took place in Walpole Park last week. I'm not a fan of contracted out enforcement but I believe in this case the right thing has been done. Allegedly the woman dumped a bag of bread on the grass and was spotted by the Kingdom enforcement officers and given a £150 fine. Feeding ducks isn't good for them as bread isn't a part of their natural diet. Discarded bread attracts rats and other vermin. There are plenty of signs up telling you not to feed the birds. While I think the fine is excessive for the offense and hope that leeway would be given by the enforcement officers to families with small children feeding the birds, it is good that this sort of activity is being discouraged.

Gordon Southwell ● 1385d10 Comments

How many of the women have children with them?  The numbers of pigeons are getting out of control in Walpole Park.  Unfortunately they are feeding the pigeons and rats especially when directed straight at the pigeons.  It's gross.

Philippa Bond ● 1248d

Are you suggesting females are being unfairly targetted?

Rosco White ● 1252d

A disproportionate amount of fines issued by enforcement officers seem to go to women judging by reports in the press and cases I know of personally. Do Ealing Council keep a record of the breakdown of who these fines are being levied on?

Tricia Arbuthnot ● 1252d

Pre Covid I regularly ran along the canals out to Perivale.  There was a section there where some idiot, daily, was depositing vast amounts of cooked rice and bread in huge mounds everywhere on the canalside.  The rats thought it was Christmas.

Rosco White ● 1259d

It may be the same woman but I regularly see someone putting the bread on the grass not in the water. Then pigeons dive in, rather than it being eaten by ducks.Whether a fine is OTT is debatable but needs to be curbed.

Kevin Wilson ● 1259d

Pensioner fined £150 for feeding ducks bird food, - https://www.itv.com/news/london/2022-03-24/pensioner-fined-150-for-feeding-ducks-flabbergasted-by-littering-claim

Fred Hunt ● 1265d

There is a lot of difference between taking a whole carrier bag of bread and sharing the crumbs from your sandwich or the crust of a loaf.  In the past no-one would have had so much food to waste.The number of pigeons this has attracted has been growing and  groups of these taking off and then swirling and flapping around your head are really quite unsavoury and unhealthy.This park could do with some information signs as many people are unable to identify any of the birds regularly seen there. Then a message about the fact that bread is not considered nutritious and good for them could also be added. Mouldy bread is a definite no-no. Yes, we've seen rats too around and about the ponds.  The crows amongst others actually take carrier bags out of bins and empty and share and spread the contents so it its never a good idea to leave food.

Philippa Bond ● 1384d

feeding pigeons is even worse especially Dean gardens problem is that people think they are being kind so its hard to remonstrate , there are also a lot of rats living in that empty building

P Taylor ● 1384d

Feeding Ducks Bread has been the norm for hundreds of years.  Ducks forage and eat almost anything edible. An artificial pond - which needs mechanical aerating cannot sustain the entire range of Geese, Ducks, and not to mention the predatory Heron who has in recent weeks killed almost all of the recent batch of ducklings.It is advisory to not feed the Ducks and yes it is the terming that are often the benefactors of food thrown away. But given that most of the rats , squirrels and pigeons are found inside and around the litter bins, are those people putting foodstuffs in the waste bins also to be fined?

Raymond Havelock ● 1385d

excessive but she deserves some kind of fine. Why didn't she put it in the water?

Simon Wycombe ● 1385d