Some traps set outside a Washtenaw County business to get rid of a pigeon problem reportedly received some criticism from animal officials.

Three birds were found covered in a sticky substance in the area of Golfside Road and Washtenaw Avenue.

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See Bird Wounds From Sticky Traps

Carol Akerlof, a certified wildlife rehabilitationist who lives in Ann Arbor, believes the pigeons were caught in glue traps set outside a Citizens Bank in Ypsilanti Township, according to The Ann Arbor News.

Three birds were given to Akerlof over the weekend. She showed the paper one of the birds, which was reportedly covered in a sticky, glue-type substance that nearly made it immobile.

Eric Davidson, an animal welfare officer with the Humane Society of Huron Valley, told the paper he's never encountered that kind of substance in his 8 ½ years with the Humane Society.

Akerlof told the paper there are much better, more humane methods to shoo away the birds.

She said ledges on buildings should be built at a 45-degree angle to deter pigeons from roosting on them. For existing buildings, she advises buying metal spikes and setting them up on ledges and roofs to repel pigeons, the paper reported.

Akerlof told the paper that with the glue traps, the pigeons either starve to death or are helpless to attacks from predators. She added that the traps could also trap other animals.

Officials at the Citizens Bank told Local 4 they had a problem with pigeons crowding around their entrance, so they called a pest control company. The bank said they never intended for any bird to get hurt.

"They were horrified, too. They didn't know. They just figured somebody was going to do something to their roof so the pigeons wouldn't land there anymore. As soon as we told them what the problem was, they cooperated fully," said Sherry Silk, of the Huron Valley Humane Society.

The pest control company returned on Tuesday to replace the sticky traps with a safer deterrent -- a mesh netting placed at a 45-degree.