Do pigeon shoots constitute cruelty? PA judge set to decide

March 15, 2010
By Amy Worden
Philly Dawg

UPDATE: For more on the politics of pigeon shoots, take a look at Bloomsburg University professor Walter Brasch's piece in the Daily Kos today.

In what could be a landmark animal welfare case, a Dauphin County district judge will hear animal cruelty charges against a gun club that holds live pigeon shoots.

Humane agent Johnna Seeton filed 23 charges of animal cruelty last week against the Erdman Sportsmen’s Association, Inc., east of Harrisburg, for actions during a pigeon shoot on June 7, 2009.

Seeton said she witnessed wounded birds thrown in a barrel with dead pigeons and children being used to pick up wounded birds, both violations of a 1995 court order specifying that no children would be involved in disposal of pigeons and that any wounded birds be destroyed in a humane manner.

Seeton, who works as an agent for the Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network, attempted to file similar charges against the Pike Township Sportsmen's Club in Berks County, but said District Attorney John Adams has denied her request.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said Seeton is within her authority to file charges and therefore the court will decide the outcome.

"My thought process is that the judge will hear her charges and decide accordingly," said Marsico. "My office won't play any role in that."

The Erdman gun club in Elizabethville hosts semi-annual shoots in which participants compete to shoot live birds catapulted from boxes for prizes and money.

During shoots, many of the birds shot are wounded and abandoned in the area of the shoot and beyond for days before succumbing to their injuries.

The Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network, along with humane groups throughout the state and nation - most notably former game show host Bob Barker who kicked in $1 million for the cause - are urging the General Assembly to pass legislation banning pigeon shoots.

Two bills (House Bill 1411 and Senate Bill 843) would prohibit the use of live animals for block or trap shoots are currently in front of the legislature.

Pennsylvania is the last state to openly hold pigeon shoots.