Pigeon lady can keep apartment

A woman who faced eviction for protesting the sanctioned poisoning of pigeons at her apartment complex won a qualified reprieve in Justice Court Tuesday -- she can stay provided she no longer helps the birds.

Judge Marley Robinson's ruling allows Wilhelmina Mohamed to continue living at her affordable housing complex if she refrains from trapping and relocating healthy pigeons or nursing poisoned birds. Robinson granted the Las Vegas Housing Authority the right to proceed with booting out Mohamed if she violates the edict within the next 30 days.

Mohamed, while relieved at knowing her home at Robert Gordon Plaza is secure for at least another month, remarked after the eviction hearing that she wants to leave the complex as soon as possible.

"I don't even want to live there anymore. If I can't help the birds, I don't want to be there. If I had another place to go, I would," she said.

But assuming Mohamed adheres to the court decision, she remains welcome at Gordon plaza, according to Richard Roe, the housing authority's facility manager of affordable housing. Mohamed's hearing marked the first time in his 10 years on the job that the housing authority has gone to court to evict a resident, Roe added.

"I don't have a problem with her staying. As long as she abides by the rules and doesn't do anything with the pigeons, I have no problem with Wilhelmina," he said.

Mohamed, 60, stood on the brink of eviction for fighting what housing officials have dubbed the "pigeon control program" at Gordon plaza, 425 N. 11th St.

Earlier this year, asserting that pigeons pose health and safety risks to residents, housing officials approved a plan to curb the pigeon population at Gordon plaza and the 11 other affordable housing complexes the agency runs citywide. In the spring workers for Pestmaster Services Inc. began spreading corn laced with Avitrol, a federally approved pesticide, on the rooftops of the complexes.

Gordon plaza residents claim hundreds of pigeons and songbirds have endured a futile, hours-long death struggle after ingesting the poison.

Mohamed's anger at the pigeon policy boiled over Aug. 27 when she stormed into Roe's office. After flinging a dead pigeon onto his desk, Mohamed allegedly told Roe that he would "pay for this" -- an accusation she denies. The clash led housing officials to slap a five-day eviction notice on her door last week.

Housing authority officials previously allowed Mohamed to trap pigeons at Gordon plaza, and she released more than 150 birds at city parks. She also learned to flush the stomach of pigeons that swallowed the tainted corn, a technique that helped her save another 10 birds.

Roe said some Gordon plaza residents complained about Mohamed scurrying around the complex with a small wire cage to capture pigeons. He also noted that housing authority officials permitted Mohamed to convert her bathroom into a sanctuary for sick birds, a violation of the tenant lease agreement that stipulates residents keep only one animal in their home.

Bill La Vars, president of the Gordon plaza resident council, said no one bears animosity toward Mohamed. "I don't want to see her kicked out. Nobody wants to see her kicked out. But there comes a point when you have to abide by the rules of management," he said.

Mohamed insisted she would obey Robinson's decree, but vowed to help pigeons elsewhere once she moves out of Gordon plaza. She also questioned why the judge would prohibit her rescue efforts at the complex in the interim.

"What harm is there?" Mohamed asked. "I can't stand to see the birds dying. What harm is there if I bring them to the park or if I try to get the poison out of their bellies?"

Even if Mohamed leaves, other Gordon plaza residents intend to prod the housing authority to consider alternatives to Avitrol. Jane Martin, who accompanied Mohamed to court, contacted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals last week about the poisoning of pigeons at the complex.

A PETA representative in turn wrote to housing officials urging them to consider other ways to prevent pigeons from nesting in rooftop air conditioning units, the primary problem at the housing complexes. Among the solutions: netting and anti-roosting devices such as sirens and noisemakers.

The housing authority has no plans to ask Pestmaster to stop using Avitrol, said Parviz Ghadiri, director of affordable housing. Martin hopes PETA employs its lobbying muscle to change that.

"I think that the housing authority now has information from PETA on how to control the pigeon population in other ways," she said. "If they continue the use of Avitrol, it shows to me that they really don't care about the pigeons or about what we're saying."

The Sun detailed Mohamed's battle against the housing authority in a story last week. The retired real estate agent, who survives on Social Security and disability checks, has since received offers from three Las Vegas residents to move in with them and at least one donation to aid her cause.

The story also generated a response from the owner of a Las Vegas pest control company that specializes in trapping and relocating pigeons. Jon Hauger, who runs PCS Enterprise, wants to convince housing authority officials that cheaper and more practical alternatives to Avitrol exist.

Hauger said his company captures upward of 15,000 pigeons a month from throughout the western United States. He offers them wholesale to pigeon merchants who in turn sell them to homing pigeon clubs, zoo and university researchers and film production companies that use the birds in movie scenes.

The housing authority gave California-based Pestmaster a one-year contract worth $39,000 to control the pigeon population. Eager to show he can do the job for less, Hauger said he would remove pigeons from any one of the city's affordable housing complexes -- free of charge.

"Trapping is far more effective, far less expensive and definitely less of a public-relations problem than poisoning," he said.

Dewain Steadman, chairman of the housing authority's board of directors, said the panel would listen to Hauger should he choose to present his proposal.

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