DOC to Provide Pigeon-Shoot Security

April 4, 1991

The State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)

Kevin McDermott
Staff Writer

In the wake of a threatened confrontation by animal rights activists, the Illinois Department of Conservation will provide "backup" security for a caged pigeon shoot on private property near Peoria this month.

Officials on Wednesday confirmed that the state agency will assist the Fulton County Sheriff's Department with security, if necessary, at the controversial event, in which live pigeons will be catapulted into a waiting line of shotgun fire.

Activists say they will protest the event, and some have hinted at plans to disrupt it.

"We have been asked by the local county to provide backup security," Conservation spokeswoman Carol Knowles confirmed Wednesday. Conservation, which provides free licenses for caged bird shoots, has a law enforcement division that would assist county officials if trouble arises.

"We're going to be there if they need us, because that's our responsibility," Knowles said.

The event will be conducted on the property of Donald Holford, just north of Canton, on April 18-21. About 10,000 birds will be targeted, with about 100 invited shooters paying a $150 daily entry fee for a chance to win a $5,825 grand prize. The winner is determined by counting the dead pigeons.

Proponents claim pigeon shooting is merely another gun sport, similar to skeet shooting, and that it also helps control the populations of the birds, which are considered pests in cities and farming areas. Critics claim the sport is cruel to the birds, and could be emotionally damaging to the young "trapper boys" who are sent onto the field after the shooting to kill any wounded pigeons left alive.

This is the 13th year for the "Holford North American Flyer Championship," reportedly Illinois' largest pigeon shoot. It has come under public scrutiny this year because of Steve Hindi of Plano, a private businessman and activist who was arrested in Pennsylvania last year along with more than 20 other protesters who clashed with participants at a similar event there.

Fulton County Sheriff Dan Daly said he requested Conservation to have officers on standby last week, after Hindi and others began appearing in the media with fighting words for the pigeon shooters.

"It was just a feeling that, if I were to expect some of the crowds that have been at other pigeon shoots, I would need some assistance," Daly said Wednesday.

He said the Holford property is just off Illinois 78 -- which, as public property, is a likely gathering place for the activists. "That could cause some traffic problems, and some safety problems for the protesters."

Daly said Conservation officers won't actually be summoned to the area unless there are serious problems with traffic or crowds.

Hindi has called press conferences in Peoria and confronted state officials in Springfield over the upcoming Holford shoot. He also has publicized video footage taken at other pigeon shoots, contending that the events are "secretive" and "shameful" games, and that public knowledge of them would end the practice.

He has threatened on several occasions to bring to Illinois the kind of financial loss and national embarrassment that Pennsylvania experienced from last year's melee, which has cost that state at least $40,000 in manpower and subsequent investigations. Hindi himself still faces misdemeanor charges in Pennsylvania stemming from his role in the protests.

Hindi, who has garnered support from the Humane Society of the United States, The Fund for Animals and other national organizations to protest the Holford shoot, called Conservation's security pledge "scandalous." "He (Holford) is going to make money off this, and we're going to provide (him) with tax-funded security?" Hindi said Wednesday. "It's incredible. The state isn't making a dime from this."

Knowles said any security presence by Conservation wouldn't cost additional money for the state, because the department's law enforcement officers are on duty anyway. "It's not unusual (to provide security) anywhere where there are this many people," Knowles said.

Illinois reportedly is one of only a handful of states in the nation to specifically sanction caged bird shoots. State law allows the events on private property as long as the organizers obtain a free permit from Conservation. The agency then has the power to oversee the shoots, making sure rules are properly posted and that wounded birds are put out of their misery.

Until now, the annual pigeon shoot in Hegins, Pa., has been the focal point of the sport's critics across the country. Last month, animal rights activists took an unusual approach to the issue in Pennsylvania, offering the event's organizers $15,000 to cancel the 58-year-old Labor Day tradition. The offer was turned down, and now Hindi and others say they will return to Hegins, the site of last year's confrontation.

While Hindi tries to gather a similar show of strength in Illinois, he says he also plans to sue the Department of Conservation for refusing to provide specific information about the Holford shoot and about some 20 other similar events conducted here annually.

Conservation officials say they can't release the information because of privacy laws.

Holford has declined to discuss the upcoming event, but other supporters -- including the National Rifle Association -- have defended it as a legitimate sport.