Besides committing a wanton and criminal act of cruelty, the poisoner created a dangerous health hazard to dogs, cats and small children around Potrero Hill, the Castro and Union Square where the poison was dispersed with birdseed. 

``My heart is breaking for these animals,'' said Captain Vicky Guldbech, of the Department of Animal Care and Control. She is investigating the case and wants the poisoner prosecuted for felony cruelty to animals. 

``In the city of Saint Francis, we should have reverence for all living creatures,'' said San Francisco Humane Society President Richard Avanzino. ``It's particularly upsetting when animals are killed in such a cruel fashion.'' 

The city's domestic pigeons are not ``flying rats,'' as some claim. Rather they are street-wise doves with the skills needed to survive in an urban jungle, like many of us. 

Merciless ornithophobes who prey on pigeons and endanger our pets and children must be hunted down wherever they are and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.