Bill Could End Pigeon Shoots in Pennsylvania

February 26, 2007

©HSUS/Pheiffer
This bird was rescued after a pigeon shoot. Most are not so lucky.

HSUS efforts to snuff out animal cruelty took a leap forward with the Jan. 24 introduction of proposed legislation to put an end to pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. The state is one of the last to allow these events, in which thousands of tame birds are shot for prizes and money.

Pennsylvania's House Bill 73, introduced by Rep. Frank Andrews Shimkus (D-Lackawanna County) and supported by 47 co-sponsors, awaits hearings in a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.

"Cheap Skeet"

The Latest from the Pennsylvania Press

"This bill has nothing to do with hunting or the Second Amendment. It is strictly about humane treatment of animals, and it should become law....[I]t seems clear that live-animal shoots are far from sporting. They are about as far removed from hunting and fishing as the Wright brothers' first plane is from a space shuttle." -The Reading Eagle, Feb.28, 2007 "...[T]his is about animal cruelty, the mass extermination of birds, and as such Pennsylvania should no longer tolerate it. H.B. 73, now in a House subcommittee, should receive support from members of both parties. The embarrassment of Hegins lives on in other areas and nothing justifies that." —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Feb. 20, 2007 "Using captive live animals for target practice is not hunting, and should be considered by law to be the barbaric practice that it is." —The (Scranton) Times-Tribune, Feb. 13, 2007   "Thumbs up to state Rep. Frank Andrews Shimkus, D-Lackawanna County, for introducing legislation banning live pigeon shoots anywhere in the state  ... It's action long overdue." —The York Dispatch, Feb. 2, 2007

Stockpiled months before a shoot and kept in cramped cages, pigeons arrive at the shoots malnourished and dehydrated. They are then released one at a time from boxes to be shot from 30 yards away.

Shooters take aim at five birds and receive points if the wounded or dead bird lands within a designated ring.

About 5,000 birds are targeted during a one-day shoot, with as many as 70 percent wounded and left to suffer before dying. In the past, participants and their children ripped the heads off wounded animals and beat others against the ground.

Humane Police Officer Johnna Seeton observes that, "As a Humane Society police officer for Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network, I go back one, three and five days after the pigeon shoots and still document live wounded pigeons in the area."

Live pigeon shoots have nothing to do with traditional hunting. Only a handful of shoots remain in Pennsylvania, making the state a refuge for out-of-staters looking to kill dozens of tame birds or "cheap skeet."

Communities—and Birds—Need H.B. 73

In the fall of 2006, The HSUS helped the Covington Township in Lackawanna County stop a three-day pigeon shoot. After receiving numerous calls from concerned residents, the Board of Supervisors and the Township's attorney worked around the clock with HSUS attorneys to prevent the event. The organizers canceled the event after the court issued a temporary restraining order.

"After scrambling with a quick fix, it became quite apparent to our Township that Pennsylvania is in need of a state-wide ban on live pigeon shoots. ... We were shocked to find out that an event like this can be so easily organized in our state," Thomas Yerke of the Covington Township Board of Supervisors wrote in a letter to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Oct. 5, 2006

In 1999, the nationally notorious Hegins shoot in Schuylkill County was canceled after a unanimous Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision allowed humane officers to prosecute participants for animal cruelty. But this narrow procedural decision does not prevent the horrendous cruelty inherent in pigeon shoots.

Strong support for H.B. 73 is evidence that it is time to protect communities like Covington Township and ban these egregious events once and for all.

What You Can Do

If you live in Pennsylvania, please contact your state representative today and ask him or her to support HB 73.