Emil – the Homer from Switzerland

From the

Diary as of  6/17 – 6/19/09

6/17 We have a new visitor: Emil from Switzerland. He is a homer pigeon. He has 2 rings on his feet. Angelo brought him. At least so it seemed. He seemed to be exhausted, totally hungry and thirsty. So I put the the feeding saucer in front of him on the balcony balustrade and he immediately began to eat.  Then I got the water bowl, showed him that there was water in it by putting my hand into the water and let it run down from my fingers – he immediately understood, went straight away to the bowl and drank and drank and drank. I already thought he would never stop again. Apparently he was near to starving. I had big sympathy for the little guy. He was quite docile and did not shy away when I stood beside him. I then realized that he had something on the left side of his chest – the feathers were clumped together but I could not see what it was. So I thought I would try to catch him in the next days in order to check this out, after he got used to me a bit more, assuming that he would come back for food and water.

And he did!

6/19 Two days later I really could catch him and check what it was on his chest. Apparently it was a bad injury but it was healing. That’s why the feathers were clunked together. So I let him go again.

Of course he was angry about my catch so he would not come near to me the next day. Obviously he mistrusted me now. Good for him. That would help him to survive. I assume that he got caught by a predator or a big dog because the injury loooked like a bite or he got caught in some trap. I don’t know. But I am sure that injury will heal completely and the little guy will be okay again. In the meanwhile he appears each day on our balcony and takes his food and drink. He seems to feel at home here and we watch him flying around with the other pigeons that live here.

In the meanwhile he trusts me again and takes his seed even from my hand. Apparently he does not resent me any more although he is very careful which is good.

And how we tried to find the owner comes in one of the next posts. It is quite a story – so stay tuned…

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Another ugly story…

Here is another ugly story I received from the New York Bird Club this morning:

To view the thread go to:
http://forums.manhattanbirdclub.com/post?id=3491620

Subject: Pigeon netting

Heads up on this.

This morning, around 7, at 50th and Second Avenue, Manhattan, I saw a man netting pigeons as they fed. I started after him from across the street, but he got into his light grey pickup truck and drove away. He was on the short side, black, long hair, dressed in denim. Just as he was driving away a police car pulled up behind him. I foolishly assumed the officer would notice and stop him, but no. He drove away with a sack holding birds and the officer got ready to go into Starbucks. I crossed over and spoke to the officer but as I didn’t have a licence plate number she would not do anything.

I am sickened to think some of my feathered friends shall be eaten tonight.

Gini

(with courtesy by Anna Dove, New York Bid Club)

Can we thus really call us a modern civilized world?

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National Pigeon Day in Central Park, June 13th

Here is another call for stopping life pigeon shooting in Pennsylvania as well as other embarrassing and barbaric “traditions” (published with courtesy of Anna Dove – New York Bird Club):

“Patrick Kwan of The Humane Society of the U.S. will join other spokespeople and entertainers in celebration of the New York City pigeon at National Pigeon Day on Saturday, June 13th from noon to 4 pm. in Central Park.    Please refer to the blog:  http://www.nationalpigeonday.com for details, and check back for updates to the event. We look forward to seeing you on June 13th.   Legislation to Ban Live Animal Shoots (including pigeons) in Pennsylvania state (copied from the HSUS website):   Legislation (H.B. 1411/S.B. 843) to ban the mechanical launching of live animals for target shooting was introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature last week. Last session, calls and emails from advocates like you created a tremendous foundation to ban pigeon shoots, a long-standing embarrassment to Pennsylvania.

This legislation will finally put an end to live pigeon shoots in the last state where they are openly practiced. During these events, participants compete to shoot live birds launched from spring-loaded boxes and have them land within a ring for prizes and money.

H.B. 1411/S.B. 843 will also stop barbaric events like turkey shoots where live, tame white turkeys have their feet tied to bales of hay and then are shot with arrows fired from people standing just yards away.

Your representative’s support could depend on constituent responses — so every phone call counts. Please contact your state representative, Thomas Creighton, today!

TAKE ACTION
Please make a brief, polite phone call to Representative Creighton at (717) 772-5290 to urge support for H.B. 1411 to ban caged animal shoots.

When you call, you will likely speak to a staff member who will pass your message along to your legislator. Remember to be polite and professional, and leave your name and address so it is clear that you are a constituent. You can say:

“Hello, my name is [your name] and I am calling from [your town] to urge Representative Creighton to support H.B. 1411 to ban the shooting of trap-released or tethered animals as live targets. Pennsylvania is the last state to openly practice pigeon shoots. It’s time we banned these barbaric shoots that many states banned a century ago. Thank you.”

Patrick Kwan is New York state director for The Humane Society of the United States (http://www.humanesociety.org ) and spearheads the organization’s humane policy & campaigns in the Empire State. Backed by 11 million Americans, or one of every 28, including over 800,000 New Yorkers, The HSUS is the nation’s largest animal protection organization. Prior to joining The HSUS, he was a field organizer for Amnesty International and an advisory board member of the Center for Environmental Citizenship (now the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund), and managed media relations & communications efforts for corporate, nonprofit, and government organizations including the Mayor’s Alliance’s for NYC’s Animals, The September 11^th Fund, and NYC & Company.

National Pigeon Day is sponsored by the New York Bird Club and United Poultry Concerns. Anna Dove
New York Bird Club”

Pigeon Shooting in Pennsylvania

While this does not belong directly into my diary about our feral pigeons here in Munich I am again disgusted and shocked about the behaviour of humans who continue to think that our wildlife fellows have no rights. I also feel that you cannot talk about the “nice” things solely when you write about birds and other wildlife.

A couple of days ago I received a letter from Anne Dove from the New York Bird Club with the following context:

As you are aware, Pennsylvania is the last state that still shoots down pigeons as “sport”. While the 2008 legislature did not pass legislation to ban this egregious form of animal cruelty, we hope a bill will be passed in 2009 that will end this inhumane practice.

In the meantime, pigeons are being baited, netted and trapped from NY streets and transported over state lines into Pennsylvania for the pigeon shoots.  As you can see on the Pigeon Politics blog, Council Member Helen Sears has provided the statutes of law which may make the act of pigeon netting a felony crime.  I suggest that everyone cross post the laws concerning pigeon netting to all animal message boards, blogs and websites so that everyone can be informed as to what the law is.  If you see pigeons being netted, please make a note of all information such as license plates, make of cars, etc. and if possible take pictures of the criminals and their vehicle.  Please pass this information on to your council member with a cop y of the law.  We should not give up until Pennsylvania pigeon shoots are history and those who bait and net pigeons are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for their crimes.

NY State Agriculture & Markets Law Section 353 makes it a misdemeanor to torture or injure animals. Section 353-a makes this a felony if the circumstances demonstrate aggravated cruelty; and Section 362 makes it a misdemeanor to “throw, drop or place any substance that might wound, disable or injure any animal.” NY State Environmental Conservation Law Section 11-1101 prohibits the netting of any wild bird.

Anna Dove

NewYork Bird Club

(with cortesy of Anna Dove)
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I think while there are uncountable organizations and projects to save and care for exotic wildlife, animals which easily catch the attention of press and media. Yet in the meanwhile people forget to realize the suffering of our own animals, domestic creatures, the ones we see every day and which do not attract the attention of the broad public. There are so many things in disorder still.

It is always the same – we look into foreign countries, we travel around the world, making a lot of noise because of all the injustice and torture that is taking place somewhere on this planet but we do not realize what’s happening just in front of our own door!