Amsterdam's pigeons are being sold as pate in butchers' shops after being killed as vermin, the city's residents have discovered.
Up to 1000 pigeons, called "flying rats" by the Dutch, end up for sale each year as game pate made by butchers after being killed by a pest control company, reported the Het Parool newspaper.
Duke Faunabeheer, a pest management firm, has a contract to kill the birds, infamous for their gluttonous eating of fast food discarded on Amsterdam's pavements.
After being caught and killed, the birds are sold to butchers across the city to be turned into "wildpate", a delicacy associated with wood pigeons from the countryside.
"Pigeons are not protected, so you can catch them. We have a nationwide waiver," said Arie den Hertog van Duke, from the pest control company.