URGENT NEWS ADVISORY

Thursday, September 25,  2014

Contact:  Steve Hindi  630-640-1889

Pigeon Shoot Scandal Widens: Rep. Markwayne Mullin Identified as 2nd Oklahoma Congressman Blasting Live Pigeons in Undercover Video of Pigeon Slaughter/ Campaign Fundraiser

LONE WOLF, OK – A second member of Congress – Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) – has been identified in an undercover video, along with Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), as an active participant in a fundraiser for Inhofe where live pigeons were used for shooting practice here in early September.

New images of Rep. Mullin were released today by SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), the international animal protection group that made public the original video – which has now gone viral around the world – of Inhofe blasting live pigeons for fun and campaign money.

Rep. Mullin can be seen here (on right): http://sharkonline.org/images/Inhofe/repmarkwaynemullin2.png

 

and below holding a shotgun (blue shirt): http://sharkonline.org/images/Inhofe/repmarkwaynemullin.png

Watch the full video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDbN36abT0k

 

Rep. Mullin, Sen. Inhofe and their political supporters slaughtered more than 1,000 live pigeons, while spectators drank beer under a tent and a mariachi band played.The fundraiser was to support the "Friends of Jim Inhofe and the Fund For A Conservative Future."

An anonymous former supporter of Sen. Inhofe blew the whistle on the fundraiser, and described the event as "an embarrassment to hunters and to Republican(s)...simply animal cruelty."

"Everyone, including hunters and  every gun owner for that matter, should be infuriated by this. It was just a killing contest, just a blood festival  A thousand pigeons casually blasted for entertainment. It’s just an utter waste of life, an awful lot of suffering. Our video shows a killing field, after a couple of hours, just littered with bodies, dead and alive,” said Steve Hindi, president of SHARK.

SHARK, which has been leading the fight to ban live pigeon shoots, sent an undercover investigator to the event to witness and film the pigeon shoot. His identity is being protected. The investigator filed this account: http://sharkonline.org/images/handouts/statement.pdf, excerpted here:

"In the center of the field was an open tent where a few people were surrounded by crates of pigeons. These people would pick up the birds and violently throw them into the air, so that they could then be shot. The bloody killing at Senator Inhofe’s pigeon shoot went on for nearly three hours. It was a horrifying massacre where 1,000 innocent animals were tortured, maimed, wounded and killed, all for a fundraiser, and for fun."

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