What an odd species the human is. It chooses when an animal lives or dies, after labelling it either "pet" or "pest".

Take the hapless pigeon, the quintessential "scapegoat" for those people who seek to offload the burden of blame for a problem of "nuisance" or "disease" of their own making.

R Posner wants Brighton and Hove City Council to cull the pigeon because he or she deems their numbers too great (Letters, March 23).

The squalid urban lifestyle of Man has been the "creator" of the feral pigeon, so it is typical of the "pinnacle of creation" to interfere with nature, then complain when nature gets its own back.

Compare the impact of the birds on our environment and that of human activity on our planet.

Surely we are the vermin causing irreversible destruction and bringing disease upon the natural habitats of so many of our fellow creatures.

During past conflicts such as World War One, the pigeon saved literally thousands of lives transmitting vital messages to and from the battlefield.

How quickly we forget this service and repay these creatures by advocating the futile strategy of culling.

Scientific research has proved lethal control is completely ineffective in the medium or long-term, because bird numbers increase to pre-cull figures in a matter of weeks. If we want fewer pigeons in our city centres, we need to clean up our act.

-David Hammond, Hassocks