As pigeon shoot season begins, a call to end what lawmaker calls a "blood sport"
By Amy Worden, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: August 03, 2014
To the NRA and few dozen men - many of them from out of state - who unloaded their guns on hundreds of pigeons launched from boxes this weekend in Berks County, pigeon shooting is a "proud Pennsylvania tradition."
To pretty much everyone else, as evidenced by polling results, it's a cruel blood sport that must be outlawed.
The Humane Society of Berks County and the Humane Society of the United States used the start of a three-day shoot at Wing Pointe Resort in Berks County on Friday to call for end to the practice of what they describe as a mass killing for cash.
“Thousands of pigeons will be shot and wounded or killed this weekend in an event that is no more sporting than shooting chickens coming out of a hen house," said John Goodwin, director of animal cruelty policy for HSUS at the news conference. "The legislature needs to uphold mainstream values and common decency by passing legislation to end these cruel spectacles.”
