Behind the Photo: The pigeon problem of 1946

  © 2026, Christian Cassidy

Often I will see an old photo or advertisment and spend some time digging into its back story. Sometimes I find a great story, sometimes not. Either way, I learn a few things about the city's history. Here's my latest attempt. For more Behind the Photo posts.

April 25, 1946, Winnipeg Tribune

1946 was a particularly bad year for pigeons in Winnipeg, and the health committee of city council was asked to investigate what could be done about them at its April meeting. This posed photo appeared on the front page of the Winnipeg Tribune on Thursday, April 25, 1946, to illustrate its coverage of the meeting.

Citizens were complaining about the flying rats (this author's interpretation) because they were making a mess, cooing people awake in the morning, and getting into buildings and homes through windows and vents, (as this was the pre-air conditioning era, so windows were left open a lot more). The warm, dry winter was ideal for the growth of the pigeon population.

“Aunt Sally” Warnock, secretary of the Winnipeg Humane Society, told the committee that the reason for so many people-friendly pigeons in the city was that the hobby of pigeon fancying was dropping out of favour and owners were just releasing their collections. She wanted pigeon keeping banned in city limits. Others pointed out that kept pigeons had a home to go to, and that it was stray pigeons that had to be looked after.

April 25, 1946, Winnipeg Tribune

The committee found that for over a decade, pigeon population control in Winnipeg was left to police who had the authority to shoot them at daybreak before pedestrians were out on the streets. Constable Carl Tangstad (pictured above) told the committee he alone shot nearly 500 in the previous two weeks. 

The discussion turned to bringing in hawks or falcons to try to control the population, but nobody on the committee knew if there were any falconers in the city. Warnock said that given the choice of having pigeons attacked by birds of prey or shooting them, the latter was more humane, but she felt trapping them and bringing them to Assiniboine Park could be a solution. 

The committee deliberated and sent a letter to the police chief asking that his department continue to shoot pigeons at dawn. He responded that his officers already shoot around 2,000 pigeons a year, and if the committee thought more than that needed to be culled, the city should look into hiring a pigeon catcher.

The discovery of how the city dealt with pigeons brought several letters to the editor opposing the practice, but for the remainder of 1946 at least, that's how it was done. 

December 8, 1946, Winnipeg Tribune

Coverage of the meeting brought out a split in the different "classes" of pigeons in the city.

Bill Ramedge, president of the North Winnipeg Pigeon Racing Club, told the Tribune in a follow-up story that "We would like to see the stray pigeons put out on the road." He compared racing pigeons to thoroughbred athletes, like horses, "but the common pigeons are just bums. They are crossbreds and everything else."  

If you want to get a sense of how serious the pigeon industry was back then, check out this 1952 edition of American Pigeon Journal. "Elite pigeon" folks were also proud of the fact that during the Second World War, the British Army Signal Corps used 17,000 carrier pigeons to carry information.

As the police were taking care of "wild" pigeons, the year ended with a couple of big events for their elite counterparts. 

The Racing Pigeon Club of Winnipeg held a show in December at the Belgian Club. The judge was J. C. Doolittle from California, who was considered one of the world's top experts in racing pigeons.

Later that month, the Pigeon Fanciers Association of Winnipeg held a show that brought in 350 entries from across Canada.