Two protesters to greet pigeon shoot opening

Thursday, April 18, 1991

The Journal Star (Peoria, IL)

By Lori Timm

Canton – Only two protesters will greet participants in today's opening of the Holford Pigeon Shoot, but animal rights activist Steve Hindi said objectors plan to be out in force this weekend.

The focus of the protests against the live pigeon shoot will take place Saturday and Sunday, Hindi said. He and his brother, Greg, plan to begin their stand along Illinois Route 78 this morning.

"Since it's the first day of competition, we wanted to let them know we'll be there and to let them know how we feel," said Hindi, 36, of Plano.

For 12 years, Donald Holford has hosted the annual four-day pigeon shoot on his farm two miles north of Canton.

"It's their party. I'm not going to comment on anything," Holford said Wednesday.

Fulton County sheriff's deputies and state Department of Conservation police will be at the shoot location beginning today, Sheriff Dan Daly said.

Officer will arrest protesters if necessary, Daly said.

Protesters may stand along Route 78 as long as they are on the right-of-way and do not trespass on Holford's private property, he said.

Hindi said he is unsure how many people will take part in protests today and Friday, but he said the weekend will draw activists from Pennsylvania, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Hindi said he will stay until visitors at a traditional end-of-shoot party leave on Sunday.

"We're not going to let them have their party without some semblance of conscience, even if it comes from other people."

Hindi, a self-employed industrial fastener manufacturer, was arrested last Labor Day weekend during group protests of a similar shoot in Hegins, Pa.

He said his group does not plan to disrupt the Canton shoot, but he indicated protester may cross onto Holford's land if organizers do not mitigate "extremely negative and disturbing" shoot procedures.

For example, Hindi said, he hopes birds will be euthanized if they are only wounded by gunshot. Hindi said he expressed his concern in letters to Daly and to Terry Musser of the IDOC, the agency that issued a permit for the event.

Protesters also may want to assist wounded birds that land outside the boundaries of the shoot area, Hindi said.

"The Department of Mutilation's regulations may say those birds are un-retrievable … bit it is a matter of humanity for the birds to be retrieved and euthanized. It is almost incumbent upon us to reach those birds and put them out of their misery," he said.

"I would much rather face a judge … than to face myself for a number of nights saying, "My God, you let that poor bird suffer because you were afraid of being arrested."