Doves in the Belfry

I stopped to chat with a couple of people I know the other day, and one of them told me this little story.
He was passing the church when he saw Father Richard and a small crowd of parishioners looking up at the roof of the church. He went over and asked if they were having an open air service. They all looked very serious, and pointed up at the roof. Some white doves were perching there, and the parishioners wished they weren't.
"But surely they're God's creatures, and symbols of the Holy Spirit?" the passer by said. He went on: "and then they said some very bloody things about the doves. One of them was all for going and getting his shotgun!"
Father Richard put the case against the doves bluntly. "They're shitting on the bells," he said.
In the end, they decided to go for non-violent means of control - putting up fruit netting around the belfry to keep the doves out. They have to be careful, though, as it's also a bat roost, and the bats are protected and have to be allowed to get in and out.