tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6417823178869258168.post940541986915303444..comments2023-08-02T11:48:10.823-04:00Comments on People for the Preservation of Pigeons: Despite Bad Rap Pennsylvania Pigeon Shoots Go OnNew York Bird Clubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09847836211109918425noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6417823178869258168.post-60098800943303346342008-02-27T15:21:00.000-05:002008-02-27T15:21:00.000-05:0022 years ago ...... This article from The New York...22 years ago ...... <BR/><BR/>This article from The New York Times, was posted September 16 1986, that makes it almost 22 years old:<BR/> <BR/><BR/>Stop the Labor Day Pigeon Slaughter <BR/>Published: September 16, 1986<BR/><BR/>To the Editor: <BR/><BR/>Thousands watched the massacre in Hegins, Pa., and young children were hired to wring the necks of ''downed'' pigeons showing any signs of life after being shot. Your report suggested that killing pigeons for such entertainment is as legal in Pennsylvania as baseball. <BR/><BR/>Not so. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a suit pending in the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas permanently to enjoin future shoots from taking place. <BR/><BR/>Our first attempt for a temporary restraining order before Labor Day was denied by a local judge on an interpretation of law that would have us believe that in Pennsylvania pigeons are not animals and therefore not covered by the state's animal anticruelty statute. We are confident that, after a full review, the court will conclude as our lawyers have that in Pennsylvania, as elsewhere, pigeons are protected by law from acts of cruelty. JOHN F. KULLBERG President, A.S.P.C.A. New York, Sept. 9, 1986 <BR/><BR/>---------<BR/><BR/>Now, look at this posting from the Humane Society, it is almost 5 months old:<BR/><BR/>Throwing Live Pigeon Shoots to the History Books <BR/> <BR/>September 20, 2007 <BR/> <BR/> ©Cape Wildlife Center/The HSUS <BR/> Wounded birds—alive and suffering—can be found in the area days after a pigeon shoot. <BR/>By Casey Pheiffer<BR/><BR/>A decade ago, Frank Andrews Shimkus was a broadcast journalist assigned to cover the notorious Hegins pigeon shoot. At the time, Shimkus was appalled at the unspeakable event, but he had little idea that a decade later he would be in a position to help end cruel live pigeon shoots. <BR/><BR/>As a direct repercussion of a lawsuit by The Fund for Animals, the Hegins shoot ended not long after Shimkus reported on it.<BR/><BR/>UPDATE 12/19/07 <BR/>There are now two pigeon shoot bills: HB 2130 and SB 1150. Pennsylvanians, please ask your legislators to stop these cruel pigeon shoots. <BR/> <BR/>But other shoots go on every fall and winter at private gun clubs in east-central Pennsylvania. And Frank Shimkus has not forgotten the pigeons or the cruelty inherent in these shoots. Today, he is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the primary sponsor of HB 73, a cruelty bill to ban shooting competitions in the Keystone State where live animals are launched from traps or tethered.<BR/><BR/>Moving Toward a Ban<BR/><BR/>A failed attempt by an out-of-state group to hold a new shoot in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, last fall reinvigorated the effort to ban these absurd events. Before the planned shoot, the chairman of the township's board of supervisors declared that he would dig up the town's streets before he allowed this animal cruelty to take place within their community's borders.<BR/><BR/>The Shimkus bill, which has attracted 49 co-sponsors, appears to have enough support to pass when it comes to a floor vote, after which it would go to the Senate for action. Even diehard hunters in the legislature recognize that the time has come to ban live pigeons shoots.<BR/><BR/>HB 73 was referred to the Judiciary Committee on January 30 of this year, where it has languished for nearly nine months. One of the holdups is the involvement of the outnumbered Pennsylvania members of the National Rifle Association. Twice the pigeon shoot bill has been scheduled for consideration by the Committee, and twice the NRA has done its best to stall the bill, even though many hunters are embarrassed by the activity and would never participate in a live pigeon shoot.<BR/><BR/>But while the NRA has thrown up roadblocks, advocates representing The HSUS's half a million members in Pennsylvania are working to make sure this cruelty is finally stopped.<BR/><BR/>Suffering and Dying for Fun<BR/><BR/>Live pigeon shoots have nothing to do with traditional hunting. Stockpiled months before a shoot and kept in cramped wire cages, pigeons arrive at the shoots malnourished, dehydrated and disoriented. They are then released one at a time from boxes called "traps" to be shot from 30 yards away.<BR/><BR/>As many as 5,000 birds become living targets during a three-day shoot, with most of the birds wounded, rather than killed outright, and left to suffer before dying. <BR/><BR/>Humane 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 document live wounded pigeons still in the area."<BR/><BR/>The Trend is Clear<BR/><BR/>In other states, with the assistance of local communities that want pigeon shoots out of their back yards, The Fund for Animals and The Humane Society of the United States have been the leaders in stopping illegal live pigeon shoots wherever they occur. After California residents contacted The Fund about a shoot in their area, the California Attorney General opined in 2000 that pigeon shoots violated the state's cruelty code.<BR/><BR/>Pennsylvania is the last frontier for these events, leading the few who want to participate in these cruel events to travel across state lines to the last shoots occurring in Pennsylvania. At recent competitions, HSUS observers reported that the majority of cars on the parking lot, apart from those of the gun club staff and volunteers, carry out-of-state tags.<BR/><BR/>"What kind of person," wondered one HSUS activist, "would drive hundreds of miles just to shoot captive birds? And what kind of organization would fight so hard to keep these things going?"<BR/><BR/>What You Can Do<BR/><BR/>If you live in Pennsylvania, please tell your legislators that you don't want your state to host these cruel events any longer.<BR/><BR/>Casey Pheiffer is Deputy Campaign Manager for The HSUS's Hunting Campaign.<BR/> <BR/>--------<BR/><BR/>What are people waiting for? 22 more years of pigeon massacre in Pennsylvania? Why does it take so long to protect helpless pigeons lives? Why is it taking the Humane Society so long to obtain a protection legislation passed? Why is the National Riffle Association so powerful as to stop a legislation for 22 years?Who owns these "private gun clubs" in Pa, maybe the NRA?<BR/>Why does not the Pennsylvania Attorney General follows example of California and inforce the law?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com