How did world war veterans react to the changing reputation of pigeons from military messengers to vermin and did their wartime service affect public attitudes toward pigeons?
I generally understand that the reputation of pigeons drastically shifted in the twentieth century from something useful to vermin. Maybe I’m projecting, but I was recently reading about pigeons that were decorated for their service in the world wars and, to me, that suggests that soldiers would have something of an emotional attachment to these animals.
In light of that potential projection as someone who likes pigeons, it made me wonder how veterans of the world wars would have reacted to the shift in pigeons’ reputations. Were there groups that tried to save their reputation? If so, to what extent was the public influenced by this?
Were wartime heroism and military service brought into debates over pigeon control, feeding bans, extermination campaigns, or claims that pigeons were dangerous or unsanitary? Anything like that?