text: A pigeon-lover from Utah has had a giant aviary in his backyard torn down following a three-year legal battle with the city council. Boris Majnaric, 75, of South Jordan, built the 384-sq-ft, four-room bird house in 1996 and went on to rear more than 200 birds - five times over the legal limit. Over the years neighbors filed a torrent of complaints about the pigeons, detailing excess droppings and noise and last Tuesday the structure was finally demolished. Majnaric, who was so fond of his flock he once delivered CPR to an ailing member, was not present for the demolition. Heartache: In this Tuesday, March 31, photo workers clean out and begin to tear down a pigeon loft in 75-year-old Boris Majnaric's backyard in South Jordan, Utah . The retired middle school French teacher told The Deseret News that his doctor advised him to stay away from his home to 'avoid  stress' as he'd recently been hospitalized for pulmonary problems. When officials told Majnaric the birds had to go, he spent more than $40,000 fighting the city in court. But in late March, a district judge did not sign an order to stop the demolition. 'I will feel very incomplete because pigeons have been part of my life,' said Majnaric, who is also facing three misdemeanor charges related to his backyard birds. 'It's going to be an empty thing for me,' he said. 'I don't think it's fair what they've done to me.' His conflict with the city began about four years ago, when neighbors noticed an explosion of pigeons and complained to the city about the birds 'dropping things' on their property. Kathy Brown, who lives across the street from Majnaric, said the birds didn't bother her. 'The pigeons are his children. He's taken good care of them,' she said. 'I feel for him, but you have to obey the laws, too.' On Tuesday, the flocks of pigeons were replaced with South Jordan animal control offices and public work employees who gathered to watch the loft come down. Yellow caution tape lined Majnaric's yard and Utah Disaster Kleenup removed pigeon droppings and prepared to dismantle the structure. The city has also given Majnaric 30 days to relocate a gazebo that served as a roosting place for dozens of the birds. City officials say they decided to take down the loft after Majnaric failed to comply with multiple court orders to reduce his yard's pigeon population. 'We really, really tried to work with him and get the population under control,' said South Jordan spokeswoman Tina Brown. All gone: Majnaric is distraught after city officials tore down his backyard house built to house 200 pigeons _ five times as many as allowed under city rules . But she said the numbers never went down to the level they agreed upon. Majnaric agreed last summer to move the loft and gazebo himself to a house in Cottonwood Heights, said John Walsh, his attorney. But his structures didn't meet the zoning requirements there. Majnaric stopped keeping pigeons in mid-January, although some still visit his yard. He traveled to California and Oregon to find homes for some of his pigeons, spending thousands of dollars to move them. Some of his favorites are starting a new life on a farm. 'This is how much I love these birds,' said Majnaric of the cost the lawsuits and relocation. 'I wanted to defend them.' Majnaric said raising pigeons fulfilled a childhood dream. His parents gave him two birds in his native Croatia when he was 12 years old and he said he cried when they died.
target: Boris Majnaric, 75, of South Jordan, built the 384-sq-ft, four-room bird house in 1996 and went on to rear more than 200 birds .
  Local laws stipulate that residents must not keep more than 40 birds .
  Majnaric fought a four-year battle with the city council to keep his flock .
  However, he finally lost the case and last Tuesday the aviary was destroyed .