PETA says it has bought three royal racing pigeons from King Charles' Sandringham estate—and their racing days are over. A spokesperson for the group tells the Washington Post that the birds were bought for around $1,900 at a January auction and taken to a sanctuary in Wales. PETA says it bought the pigeons to spare the birds "further suffering in the racing industry," where birds are "taken overseas and left to struggle against storms, exhaustion, disorientation, starvation, predation, and collisions with power lines as they try to find their way home." The group said long-distance races across the English Channel have such a high casualty rate that people involved with the sport call the channel a "graveyard."
The group says it wrote to the king to inform him that the pigeons are receiving the "royal treatment" at the sanctuary, and to urge him to cut his ties with the "archaic pastime." "Pigeons are kind and loyal animals who are so intelligent that they were once entrusted by our military to deliver vital messages, yet cruel people are flying them to their deaths for entertainment," PETA exec Kate Werner tells the Post. There has been a royal pigeon loft at Sandringham for around 150 years and Charles' mother, Queen Elizabeth II, "was a patron of a number of pigeon racing societies, in recognition of her interest in the sport," according to the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, which governs the sport in the UK.
There are around 160 adult pigeons and 80 young ones in the royal pigeon loft, which PETA has urged the king to convert "into a haven where birds used for racing can retire. Chris Sutton, chief executive of the RPRA, said, "We totally oppose the statement that pigeon racing is a cruel sport," per the BBC. The organization, he said, recognizes "that racing pigeons are intelligent birds and always prioritize their health and wellbeing." (More pigeon stories.)
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