I hate homelessness as much as the next person. But pigeons are not the way to help, my dear friends. Bats are! What the devil are we talking about? Read on…
Welsh homeless charity, Llamau, has thankfully ditched fundraising plans for a mass balloon release (which, as you know, is absolutely disastrous for wildlife). But now they have their sights set on yet another thoughtless venture – pigeon racing.
The charity says it cancelled the balloon release because it was worried about the danger the deflated balloons could cause, so why put pigeons at risk instead? As explained in the letter below, which was sent to the Events Manager this afternoon, life in captivity for racing pigeons is both dull and dangerous. A good ol’ game of cricket would be much more interesting, kinder to the animals, and still a viable fundraiser. Come on guys – bats, not birds!
Dear Ms Minchinton,
I am writing on behalf of the European affiliate of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the largest animal rights organisation in the world, to thank you for abandoning your balloon release and to ask that you find an alternative to using racing pigeons in your upcoming fundraiser. We suggest a harmless game (with all human players) such as cricket. We support your work and ask that you find ways to keep it going strong without harming animals.
You dropped the balloon release for all the right reasons, so we are guessing that you’re simply not aware of the dark underbelly of pigeon racing and will be as appalled as we are when you learn the facts:
Pigeon racing takes advantage of the fact that pigeons are intelligent and interesting little animals who can learn all manner of tasks, but racing uses the animals as if they were mechanical objects, turning free-roaming birds into caged ones, with no choices in their lives.
Once profit is introduced into the human-animal bond, all manner of nastiness can occur, including dirty and barren living conditions when the animals are not racing, selling life-bonded partners away from their loved ones to other pigeon trainers—which is especially cruel since pigeons are monogamous—and wringing the necks of birds who don’t perform well, distressing and widowing other birds in the process.
The races themselves can also be deadly since pigeons are vulnerable to birds of prey and are hurt or killed during storms, as commonly happens since bad weather rarely if ever causes a race to be cancelled.
Birds and other animals are not “tools” or “props” or model planes. They have their own culture, behaviours and interests, including how they nest, choose a mate, and are excellent “role model” parents in raising their young.
Thank you for your consideration. PETA Europe would be happy to chip in if you choose cricket or something benign. I look forward to hearing from you.
Very truly yours,
Ingrid Newkirk, Founder
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Europe
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of PETA supporter, Simone Phillips, and our campaigners, the pigeons that were trapped, starving and dehydrated in Transport for London nets have been saved – hooray!
