Even though the state Supreme Court found, 15 years ago, that live pigeon shoots are not just cruel but "moronic," state lawmakers have yet to get the message. Pennsylvania remains the only state that allows animal cruelty for fun and profit.
The events use live pigeons as targets for shotgun-wielding contestants. Often under the guise of charity, the events are more reminiscent of old-time cock-fighting and dog-fighting. The big money isn't in the entry fees, but in the behind-the-scenes wagers of participants and observers.
It was a watershed ruling back in 1998, when the Supreme Court unanimously overruled a local court, and found that participants in the notorious Hegins Labor Day pigeon shoot in Schuylkill County could be prosecuted under general animal cruelty laws. Organizers then terminated that event, but others are conducted sporadically around the state, often at private gun clubs.
Banning live pigeon shoots does not impede legitimate hunting, nor does it infringe upon anybody's right to bear arms. The same weapons used to cruelly slaughter captive birds can be used on inanimate targets or for legitimate hunting.
Sen. Pat Browne, a Lehigh County Republican, has introduced a bill, with 23 cosponsors, that specifically outlaws the shooting of captive or tethered birds.
Such bills in the past have obtained wide support upon introduction but most often have been left to languish, much like pigeons at events which are wounded and left to bleed to death.
This time, the bill is among a record number of bills that have been introduced relative to animal welfare. Lawmakers should drag the commonwealth into the 21st century by passing the ban on pigeon shoots.
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