Like during the Holodomor: people in Mariupol are forced to hunt pigeons due to lack of food
Victoria Andrieieva, staff writer at UP.Zhyttia
People living in occupied Mariupol are catastrophically short of food.
They are setting pigeon traps made from improvised materials, according to Mariupol City Council’s Telegram channel.
"In order to survive, Mariupol residents have started setting traps to catch pigeons. People did the same during the Holodomor (famine) of 1932-1933.
In particular, such traps have appeared near microdistrict 17. The birds that people used to feed, near the drama theatre, are now being eaten," the City Council said.
According to the mayor, Mariupol residents lack water as well as food.
"This is the bullying of people who lived a full life before the war - they did not know what hunger or lack of drinking water was. These terrible things are happening in the 21st century, in the heart of Europe, in front of the whole world," Mayor Vadym Boichenko said.
According to Oleksandr Lazarenko, director of Primary Healthcare Centre No. 3, eating meat from street birds is dangerous because it could be infected. Children and the elderly are the most at risk.
Eating pigeon meat carries a risk of becoming infected with:
- histoplasmosis;
- encephalitis;
- ornithosis;
- salmonellosis;
- toxoplasmosis and other dangerous diseases.
As there are no hospitals in Mariupol where people can receive full medical care, these diseases could be fatal.
