PARM Brar deserves our sympathy for putting up with an unbearable situation involving more than 100 peacocks that the City of Surrey should have dealt with years ago.
Brar, in utter frustration, was left with no choice but to cut down the tree in which the birds roosted.
In fact, Jas Rehal, the city’s manager of public safety, told the media that it was his understanding that the peacocks took off from one of the farms in the Sullivan Heights area when it was developed into the subdivision and that the city tried to capture the peacocks in 2010 but failed.
So why blame a hapless resident who had to put up with dozens of the birds who covered his property with their droppings. His dad slipped on the poop and ended up breaking his arm and badly cutting his face. His kids can’t play in the yard and he can’t use his deck.
Sure, he broke the rules for cutting down the tree, but that was only after trying every method to control the birds – such as by using nets – without injuring them. He spent three years pursuing the matter with the city, but all in vain. Brar was issued a $1,000 fine for cutting down the tree. After the city receives a report from its staff, it will then decide whether it will take the matter up in court or fine Brar and the contractor who cut down the tree up to $10,000. Brar had applied for a tree-cutting permit but was turned down.
Of course, because Brar is a brown guy, you can expect many racists to try and blow the whole thing out of proportion.
The City of Surrey should be ashamed of its inefficiency and lack of initiative to deal with this problem all these years!
The peacocks have lived in the neighborhood since the late nineties, a bit of research would of helped the home owner find this out. Mr. Brar could of also trimmed the branches to height the peacocks could not have reached, in doing so keeping the beautiful tree in the neighborhood and solving his issue. I live in the neighborhood and can agree they can be a nuisance, is Mr. Brar going to remove the train tracks next as trains run along 64th ave and blow their whistle at the intersection at all hours of the night.
He did trim the branches but unfortunately you can only trim so much according to the law and that didn’t solve the problem either, and by the way there is a big difference between 40 peacocks sitting on the tree and dripping all over the property vs a train that comes once a night. I live couple houses down from him and you can barely hear the noise of the train. I know how he feels about the peacocks because I’m dealing with the same problem. You should go ask the city how many trees they chop down everyday, and leaving tons of birds and animals homeless or even killed.
Andy I live in the neighborhood as well, the tree was a 100 year old Douglas fir, removing branches up higher than the peacock can fly is a lot less destructive than chopping it down, We can agree to disagree on that as well as i want the peacocks to remain in the neighborhood and it seems you do not. The train tracks are frequently used and blow their whistles as mandated at the two nearby street crossings every time. Loud industrial noise can also be heard from Emterra dumping large amounts of recycled glass bottles at all hours of the night. Granted it doesn’t bother many people till summer when we all tend to sleep with open windows. I understand the frustration of the bird poop, it requires consistent time and effort to keep clean but is manageable.
It is funny how everyone else has an opinion about a problem that they don’t know first hand. They were not tormented like Mr. Brar. They didn’t clean the shit like Mr. Brar. They didn’t lose their backyard like Mr. Brar. Until you are in Mr. Brar shoes we are all just a bunch of hypocrites. Because now the tree has been removed the birds will find a new tree to shit all over. Then the new neighbor will feel Mr. Brar’s pain until they are driven mad and cut that tree down as well.
Does anyone know of a fund to help Mr. Brar pay this ridiculous fine?