Cruel Pigeon Shoot Stopped in 11th Hour

	Dr. Lloyd Glenn Ingles, Cal. Academy of Sciences

By Casey Pheiffer

Citizens in Covington, Pa. did not expect to wake up one morning and discover that 15,000 animals would be shot and wounded in their own backyards the following weekend. And that's what would have happened on Sept. 22 if the community and The HSUS had not successfully blocked an out-of-state group, the North American Flyers, from holding the first-ever pigeon shoot planned for Lackawanna County.

Pennsylvania is one of the last states to practice these outdated events in which shooters kill thousands of pigeons for prizes or cash. Tame pigeons are stockpiled for months prior to a pigeon shoot. Obtained on the sly, the birds are typically kept in packed cages and arrive at the shoot malnourished and dehydrated.

At the shoot, the birds are usually released one at a time from traps. As the disoriented birds leave the box, waiting shooters fire rounds of shells at the animals. More than 70 percent of the pigeons are not killed outright, but fall to the ground wounded. In past shoots, children called "trapper boys" then took to the fields to rip the heads off of wounded pigeons, and slam others against the ground. The organizer of the Covington shoot stated that the dead animals would be thrown in dumpsters after each portion of the three-day event.

When a local television station heard of the planned shoot, it contacted The Humane Society of the United States. The HSUS then alerted Covington citizens and town officials who quickly took action to prevent the cruel event. Attorneys from the Animal Protection Litigation section of The HSUS and the Covington Township Board of Supervisors worked together to stop the event after receiving numerous complaints from outraged residents.

Neighbors of the property feared their children would witness dead and dying pigeons scattered on their lawns, and others expressed disdain that their community would be associated with brutally killing thousands of tame birds. The only support for the event appeared to come from the handful of participants in the shoot. Even the members of the gun club that rented their property for the shoot were split about being associated with a practice that most hunters abhor. The Scranton Times-Tribune called the pigeon shoot a "bird slaughter," and stated, "It is difficult to believe that such events, which inherently constitute cruelty to animals, remain legal in 2006."

In the face of threats from organizers, and with only a day left before the shoot, The HSUS legal team assisted the Covington Township Board of Supervisors in obtaining a temporary injunction on Sept. 21. To the relief of the township, the pigeon shoot planners canceled the event rather than proceed with a trial on Sept 22.

Pennsylvania has a long, controversial history of battling pigeon shoots. In 1999, the infamous Hegins Pigeon shoot in Schuylkill County ended after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously ruled that humane officers could prosecute shoot participants for animal cruelty. The opinion issued by the court characterized pigeon shoots as "cruel and moronic."  Now, only a handful of floundering shoots serve as reminders that the fight to end the wanton and wasteful events is not yet over.

The Covington victory highlights that Pennsylvania, now more than ever, needs to ban pigeon shoots. Although Pennsylvania humane agents supported by The HSUS are litigating the inherent illegality of pigeon shoots under the Pennsylvania cruelty code, legislation would send a clear message that Pennsylvania will not perpetuate these archaic events. With a statewide ban, communities like Covington would no longer have to protect themselves from a handful of out-of-state extremists looking to harm countless animals for fun and money.