Pigeon Shoots

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	In pigeon shoots, 70 percent of the birds are wounded rather than killed outright.

In pigeon shoots, birds are released from boxes called "traps" to be shot from 30 yards away. Five traps are lined up in front of the competitor. Sometimes electrified to make the tame birds fly, the traps pop open one at time in a random sequence, with each pigeon on the receiving end of two rounds of shot. The shooter gets points for each shot bird who lands within a large ring.

After each round, participants—sometimes children—take to the field to collect wounded and dead animals. If the suffering pigeon is still alive, the collector will sometimes snap the animal's head off or slam her against the ground before tossing the animal into a barrel full of dead and dying pigeons. Often, wounded birds make it outside the ring to the surrounding area and suffer for days before succumbing to their injuries.

At the end of the day, prizes are awarded based upon who shot down the most birds into the ring.

The birds are stockpiled months before the shoots in cramped cages, and the pigeons arrive at the events malnourished, dehydrated and disoriented. As many as 5,000 birds become living targets during a three-day shoot, with 70 percent of the birds wounded rather than killed outright and left to suffer before dying.

The only shoots known to occur regularly are in Pennsylvania. If you live there, please tell your legislators that you don't want the disgrace of pigeon shoots in your state any longer.

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Pennsylvania's Pigeon Shoots

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