Stop the Killing of Crows!

Way to go Crow's!  You all are making a difference!   Keep it up! VOTE on the web site!
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/crows-crow-hribar-2313820-members-says
 

Friday, February 20, 2009
PETA aims at councilman who urges shooting crows
Group advocates 'humane ... nonlethal bird-control methods.'
By PETER SCHELDEN
The Orange County Register

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO - As the sunlight fades, thousands of crows descended on the fields of Saddleback College on Thursday night, just like they do every night. This time they were met by Councilman Tom Hribar, who wants the crows to leave San Juan Capistrano and the surrounding valley. "It's like a bunch of jet fighters - you see them on the horizon by the hundreds," Hribar said. "It is a phenomenon. It's like something you see on the Discovery Channel." Since Hribar's idea for residents to shoot crows was published two weeks ago, his phone has been ringing steadily with supporters and detractors. He says e-mails have been 2 to 1 in favor of his position that crows are pests and need to be removed for the protection of local songbirds and swallows.People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals put out an "action alert" urging members to write letters to Hribar urging him to "recommend, support, and implement humane, long-term, and nonlethal bird-control methods." "The use of firearms is exceptionally cruel, as many birds struck by pellets do not die quickly -they are merely maimed, many ultimately dying slow and agonizing deaths," PETA said in its action alert.

An Internet organization called the Crow Society, founded by Dale C. Crow, has urged its 300 members to "stop the killing of crows," and provided the members with phone numbers of city hall and other offices.
"We have many members that would love to have an American crow as a pet but it is against the law," Crow said. "Not sure why you can kill them but not keep them."

But Hribar says he is a bird lover himself. He built an aviary inside his home, raising hundreds of songbirds with his daughter. Since he moved to the valley 35 years ago, Hribar says the songbirds have left - they have been driven out, he says, by scavenging crows. "Many people have seen a baby songbird in a crow's mouth as it flies away - I've personally seen that," Hribar said. "I think we need to diminish the population (of crows). Everybody's basically afraid to do anything about it. I think the local people for the most part recognize we have a problem. The question is what are we going to do about it?"

READER QUESTIONS
Since the story went out, readers have sent crow questions to The Orange County Register. Melinda Wells asked how her friend, a long-bow hunter, could legally hunt crow. The answer? Contact your local Department of Fish and Game expert, who will probably direct you to a state or federal park where hunting is allowed. Several readers, including Bill Phillips of West Garden Grove, asked why crows gang up and attack hawks. "Hawks eat a lot of baby crows, and they'll eat an adult crow if they can get them," Cornell University crow expert Kevin McGowan said. "Hawks are a constant danger to crows. That's why crows squawk at them so much." San Juan resident Christie Smead suggests the city look into feeding the crows birth control as a safer alternative to hunting. Resident Tom Tily asked where and when crows can be hunted. "They are a menace and a mess and they eat songbird eggs," Tily said. "And I need some practice for next quail season." State law allows a hunter to kill up to 24 crows per day with a shotgun or bow and arrow. This law comes from a time when farmers had to protect their freshly seeded crops from crows, which are attracted to seeds. Firing weapons is illegal in both city limits for San Juan Capistrano and unincorporated areas of Orange County. Contact fish and wildlife for more specifics.
 

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Poll: San Juan councilman asks residents to shoot crows

Big black birds have become too numerous and too aggressive, Tom Hribar says.
By PETER SCHELDEN

The Orange County Register

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Councilman and well-documented enemy of crows Tom Hribar has a new plan to get rid of the "rats with wings," as he has called them. His answer? Shoot 'em. Songbirds have left the valley, he says. So have San Juan Capistrano's beloved swallows. The landfill on La Pata Avenue has brought more crows. There's more food available for the scavenging crows and not enough predators to keep their numbers down, Hribar says. "We don't have enough people shooting them," he said. "We all know what they've done to our community." And like a pack of surly thugs who ran the police out of town, the crows are getting meaner. "These crows are becoming extremely aggressive," Hribar said. "They are actually causing property damage. People are at a loss as to what they can do." The councilman said state law permits hunters to shoot 24 crows per day before April. Mayor Mark Nielsen said he has seen the big black birds "methodically ramming their heads on a neighbor's glass." But he insists he would not shoot them. "I would never discharge a weapon in city limits," Nielsen said. Shooting a gun in city limits is against city laws. You can shoot crows outside of city limits, and outside of unincorporated Orange County, Fish and Game's Southern California chief Mike McBride said. "You don't just go out and grab a shotgun and go shoot," McBride said. You need a license first.

 

What can we do to stop this?  
Please contact the City Of San Juan Capistrano and let them know that you are out raged over this.  Also ask them to have Mr. Tom Hribar go back the the Orange Co. Register and retract his call for an open season on crows. 

Go  to http://www.ocregister.com/articles/crows-hribar-shoot-2304567-says-people 
and VOTE NO! stop the killing of crows!

CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
32400 Paseo Adelanto
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Phone: 949-493-1171
Fax: 949-493-1053
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday
7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday

You can also email Mr. Tom Hribar at thribar@sanjuancapistrano.org

Other people you can contact about this issue are:

Capistrano Valley News
The Orange County Register
(949)-492-5128
http://ocregister.com/capo 
http://twitter.com/capovalleynews

New York State Official Crow Hunting Season

Check this out  http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28494.html  posted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway
Albany, New York 12233-0001

Commissioner - Pete Grannis
518-402-8545 you can email him by web form at http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/407.html

State of Kentucky

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/kar/301/002/260.htm
Email Robert.Jenkins@lrc.ky.gov

For winter fun, try crow hunting
From the Arkansas Democrat web site
This article was published Sunday, January 4, 2009. By Keith Sutton

http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2009/jan/04/winter-fun-try-crow-hunting-20090104-0/

For the Letters to the Editor page please go to http://www2.arkansasonline.com/contact/voicesform/ 
the phone is 501-333-3333.

Thanks for all of you that have emailed me about the crow killings  Please email me any that you can find.  Please get as much contact info as you can so our members can email and call.  We must ban together to stop the killings!