The lame pigeon

This is a story from my sister has a soft spot for animals just like me.

Last Saturday, she went out to watch the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at an IMAX theatre in downtown Toronto. Since she went to the 12:30pm showing, she had no choice but to have a late lunch. So after the movie, she bought a slice of pizza from one of those little shops that sell authentic wooden stove baked pizzas and walked over to a small nearby park with a fountain to eat her lunch.

As in most open spaces in Toronto, this particular spot had its share of pigeons hanging around waiting for people to drop them some crumbs. My sister wasn't in the mood then to share her pizza so most of the pigeons eventually left her alone--except for this one pigeon who refused to leave. Knowing that giving just one morsel would encourage it to wait for more, my sister still didn't give it anything. But then she noticed that the little thing had some missing claws/toes on one leg so that it was practically standing on one leg most of the time. Ah the poor thing. (It probably stayed around because it can't perched on branches like the others.) My sister eventually took pity on it and gave it a bit of the crust of her pizza that didn't have any of the pizza sauce. The little pigeon eagerly ate it up. Of course, many other creatures in the vicinity showed up soon after: a little maya, then a squirrel, then finally the rest of the pigeons came walking back. She gave each of them a bits from her pizza making sure that the lame one got more than its share. The poor things were probably so used to being fed by strangers who stopped by.