NYC Pigeons Trapped, Kidnapped and Shot for Sport, Group Says (The Wall Street Journal)
The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2010
NYC Pigeons Trapped, Kidnapped and Shot for Sport, Group Says
“Earlier this month, in a letter to Pennsylvania lawmakers, the New York City Bar claims that many pigeons are captured and transported, without food or water, to middlemen in Pennsylvania. From there they are sold to shooting ranges for use in live trap shooting competitions where participants fire shotguns at live pigeons vaulted into the air. ‘Because there is a constant demand for birds to supply these events, the trap shoots induce unlawful poaching in nearby New York City,’ the attorneys’ group wrote in a letter to the leaders of the Pennsylvania state Senate and House of Representatives earlier this month. Lawmakers in Pennsylvania are considering a ban on pigeon shooting statewide. The New York City Bar wrote the letter in support of the legislation. Trapping pigeons is legal under New York state law if the birds are considered a nuisance and if the trapper has the proper license. The pigeons also must be trapped ‘in a humane manner,’ according to the law. (The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation has not yet returned calls seeking the state definition of ‘humane.’) But Lori Barrett, a member of the New York City Bar, said in an interview that the birds in question are deprived of food and water and shipped across state lines to be killed, all of which violates state environmental and animal cruelty laws.”
