Pigeons shot at Wimbledon & PETA

[fabsroman]

Wimbledon under fire for pigeon cull

Jun 24, 1:03 pm EDT

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Wimbledon came under fire from animal activists on Tuesday for using marksmen to shoot down dive-bombing pigeons.

The tournament employs two hawks to scare away pigeons who had become a pest swooping down on Centre Court and distracting players in the middle of tense matches.

But the hawks failed to keep the pigeons away from the players’ lawn and the open-air media restaurant so marksmen were called in.

“The hawks are our first line of deterrent, and by and large they do the job,” Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins said.

“But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn’t deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach,” he explained.

The marksmen were summoned by Wimbledon as pigeon droppings on the restaurant tables were thought to be a health hazard.

The decision to call in the marksmen was condemned as “cruel and illegal behaviour” by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which complained to the tournament organisers and the police.

“Since the use of marksmen to kill pigeons appears to have been carried out as a first, rather than a last resort, and not out of a concern for public health, but rather because the animals were deemed inconvenient by players, you appear to be in clear violation of the law,” PETA vice-president Bruce Friedrich said.

(Reporting by Paul Majendie, Editing by Clare Lovell)

Isn't this utterly unbelievable.

[Jack]

Well, I'm certainly not against shooting a few sewer falcons.....
But, I gotta wonder... if pigeons flying around distract the tennis players in a close match (and I can see where they would) , wouldn't firing a shotgun distract players, too?

[fabsroman]

I thought the same thing, but do you really think they are using a shotgun, and even if they are, do you really think they are shooting the pigeons during a match. I'm willing to bet that they are using pellet guns to kill the pigeons while they are on top of statues and buildings, but I could be wrong. Even so, the shooting is happening away from the tennis courts.

[Skinny Shooter]

Originally posted by fabsroman

The decision to call in the marksmen was condemned as “cruel and illegal behaviour” by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which complained to the tournament organisers and the police.

Sure it was

See my tag line.

[skeet]

Just not at Wimbledon. For 10 yrs four of us earned more than just a little money shooting pigeons in towns and around grain elevators. I shot as many as 100,000 shells a year during those yrs. Best day we ever did was about 4000 pigeons in one town. They even had a grain elevator at the edge of town. I'm sure they used shotguns at wimbledon but not during a match. Pigeons and seagulls are really messy birds that foul many places people spend time around. I have seen seagulls actually snatch food away from unsuspecting people right while they were eating.

[Brithunter]

Hmmmm now let's see Wimbledon is right in London which is built up all around it so I can just see them firing lead shot into the air to land where?

Nope that's illegal it would onyltake one pellet to land outside Winbldon Tennis club to bring all sorts of havoc on them, so my money is on pre charged Air Rifles using sound moderators and roost shooting them.

[Bret Andrysiak]

Thanks for reminding me, Fall is approaching and I must send my yearly invitation to PETA to enjoy some venison I shoot.
Cant help sending those IDIOTS a pic and an insult each deer season.