PETA protest at Wimbledon

[Isolder74]

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Wimbledon under fire for pigeon cull

Jun 24, 1:03 pm EDT

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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)

lol more PETA silliness.

[Boyish-Tigerlilly]

I don't get how they can say it was done not as a health precaution when the article itself says that the animals with crapping on people and food tables. That seems like a health issue to me, being outside.


I wonder if they had umbrellas for the tables.

[Admiral Valdemar]

PETA defying all reason? Say it ain't so!

[Isolder74]

it was also not first resort. That was the hawks. I bet PETA had issues with that as well. Explains why the ignored the fact that the tried that already.

Using trained animals to control an animal problem! How vile!

[Isolder74]

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.

[Sidewinder]

From what I understand regarding the article, the hawks were the first resort to the pigeon problem, and the marksmen the last resort. PETA is protesting against humans shooting at birds to prevent a potential hazard to human health (as others have noted). What's next, protesting against the culling of cows to prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease)?

It seems inevitable that one day, we'll read an article about a PETA activist who went to a zoo or wildlife reservation to protest against feeding meat to lions and other predators, only to be eaten by the predators.

[Isolder74]

From what I understand regarding the article, the hawks were the first resort to the pigeon problem, and the marksmen the last resort. PETA is protesting against humans shooting at birds to prevent a potential hazard to human health (as others have noted). What's next, protesting against the culling of cows to prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease)?

It seems inevitable that one day, we'll read an article about a PETA activist who went to a zoo or wildlife reservation to protest against feeding meat to lions and other predators, only to be eaten by the predators.

Of course. PETA will protest any use of animals by humans. ANY!

If you let the deer go in the enclosure and had the lion kill it himself they might even protest that! I know the Human Society wouldn't allow the zoo to do that. But PETA is all about animal rights being more important then the rights of people.

They don't like any use of animals no matter what it is. They would not only protest the killing of infected cattle they'd protest the using of them at all. I'm surprised here that they didn't also protest the enslavement of the hawks as well!

[Gil Hamilton]

And chances are the marksmen aren't going to get THAT much work. When birds of prey take up residence in an area, pigeons often times get the hint in a hurry. There has been alot fewer belligerent pigeons in Oakland (a neighborhood in Pittsburgh) since those Peregrine falcons took up residence on the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.

[Isolder74]

And chances are the marksmen aren't going to get THAT much work. When birds of prey take up residence in an area, pigeons often times get the hint in a hurry. There has been alot fewer belligerent pigeons in Oakland (a neighborhood in Pittsburgh) since those Peregrine falcons took up residence on the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.

A neighbor of mine raised rolling pigeons. In a nearby gully a Peregrine took up residence. We had alot of wild ferrel pigeons flying around before it moved in, they liked to hang out on a neighbor's roof. Well they were so lazy that when one was snatched off the roof the other wouldn't even fly away. after a while the easy pickings were all gone and it started after his rolling pigeons while he was training them. He wasn't happy but admitted that what could he do about it.

[Aenigma]

Things I wonder about:

The ratio of PETA staff who are anti-people is vs the percentage of people who donate to PETA that are anti-people.

My guess is that the majority of people that contribute to PETA do so about of emotional empathy to mistreated animals while not knowing about the anti-human base philosophy of PETA.


Another interesting piece of data I would be curious to know: the percent income donated to PETA by people who know about (and support) its anti-human philosophy vs the percent donated by those who do so out of naive emotional empathy.

[Boyish-Tigerlilly]

What is the actual philosophical underpinning of PETA. I keep hearing them reference Peter Singer's Utilitarianism and Tom Regan's Deontological defense of Animal Rights.

However, I hear them say things like animals are equal to people in terms of their rights, but this doesn't stem from Singerian Preference Utilitarianism. He openly says he doesn't actually believe in rights and that equal consideration of like interests doesn't necessarily mean all animals will actually have equal rights, be treated equally.

He implies that where like interests overlap, they should be, if they are, given equal consideration in a calculation. He doesn't believe the life of a non-human animal is worth equal to that of the average human. So I don't know where they get this from.

[Zixinus]

The reason I find this insane is that they are protesting againts hurting pigeons. Now, some of you may now my opinion of pigeons for Hall of Shame (flying rats!) but aside my glee of genuine pigeon-murder, what's the deal? These are not endangered animals, not even remotely. If anything, there is way too much of them.

This whole thing looks more like an stunt then a real protest.

[Mayabird]

This whole thing looks more like an stunt then a real protest.

Actually, I think that describes most of PETA's "protests." They just sound like a bunch of whiny, self-righteous brats who want attention and won't have the brains to not sound like a bunch of whiny, self-righteous idiots.

[Sidewinder]

These are not endangered animals, not even remotely. If anything, there is way too much of them.

PETA is probably worried that regular pigeons will follow the passenger pigeon's path from being one of the most abundant birds in the world, to extinction.

This whole thing looks more like an stunt then a real protest.

With the way American political activists are, they probably see ZERO difference between a publicity stunt and a protest with valid arguments.

[Boyish-Tigerlilly]

The reason I find this insane is that they are protesting againts hurting pigeons. Now, some of you may now my opinion of pigeons for Hall of Shame (flying rats!) but aside my glee of genuine pigeon-murder, what's the deal? These are not endangered animals, not even remotely. If anything, there is way too much of them.

This whole thing looks more like an stunt then a real protest.

Well, I agree that pidgeons need to be limited in population in some way. Whatever is the most humane way is fine. I don't think they have some intrinsic right to overpopulate, but I don't see why the morality of killing them would rest on whether or not they are endangered. It doesn't make killing them less of an issue or "deal" if they are a healthy population. It depends on why you are killing them too. I wouldn't say it's good to go randomly killing shit, even if the population can handle it. Would you? I am not saying you would.

Even if they weren't endangered, it can still be wrong to kill them unless you have a good reason (e.g. overpopulation and no other way to deal with it). I don't really get giddy killing anything.

They probably don't see the interest in eating outside outweighing killing the pigeons, and merely as an inconvenience. I doubt people are willing to eat inside to save the pigeons. But even if people did, I don't think that would solve the problem. Let's say we did sacrifice and did eat inside, thus eliminating that problem, you would still have sanitation issues because you'd have pigeon shit all over, even if they didn't eat outside. If it were merely a problem of eat inside = no problem, I could see the issue perhaps from the point of view of not eliminating the animals.

I would imagine it would be an enormous cost to clean up the crap too.

[Rogue 9]

Rats with wings.

So, has anyone gone out to the protest with a bucket of fried chicken?

[Sarevok]

An honest proposal :


Hiring trained hawks or recruiting skilled marksmen can't be cheap. I wonder whether an automated low altitude theater pidgeon defense system would be more safer and economic. Many have argued that such a system would involve proprietory technologies and billions in R & D. However drawing from the Navies standard missile or the airforce Patriot programs experience in ballistic missile interception such a system can be built using off the shelf components at minimum cost. An amateur telescope mount provides a stable firing platform for a kinetic kill warhead launcher such as an airsoft gun. Since the AEGIS rader system is ineffective against bird type threats a more sophisticated sensor suite is required. This can be addressed by a 10 dollar web cam providing full hemispheric all weather search/track capability. Fire control is handled by a second hand HP Pocket PC purchased from some shop in Singapore selling counterfeit chineese knock offs of branded electronics. The entire system is datalinked via sophisticated universal serial bus technology allowing it to automaticaly search, track and engage air threats with minimal human intervention. The system can be further upgraded for network centric warfare by registering a Youtube account where gunners can post videos of pidgeons being splattered mid flight by computer targeted airsoft munitions.

[Lancer]

Airsoft lacks the muzzle velocity to reliably intercept pidgeons at stand-off range; you might as well just launch some firecrackers to scare them away.

[Isolder74]

Airsoft lacks the muzzle velocity to reliably intercept pidgeons at stand-off range; you might as well just launch some firecrackers to scare them away.

Not to mention that they'd just fly off a bit and come right back.

[Molyneux]

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.

I know that it's a valid use of the word, but I have to ask...
...do they get dental?

[Isolder74]

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.

I know that it's a valid use of the word, but I have to ask...
...do they get dental?

On what teeth?

[Molyneux]

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.

I know that it's a valid use of the word, but I have to ask...
...do they get dental?

On what teeth?

That's why I asked!

More seriously, I wonder exactly how tied these hawks are to Wimbledon? Do they get veterinary care and such, or just kind of fend for themselves?

[Isolder74]

They are probably pampered to death

[Kanastrous]

I don't get how they can say it was done not as a health precaution when the article itself says that the animals with crapping on people and food tables. That seems like a health issue to me, being outside.

From PETA's perspective, the health that is most worth protecting, is the health of the pigeons.

[Isolder74]

I don't get how they can say it was done not as a health precaution when the article itself says that the animals with crapping on people and food tables. That seems like a health issue to me, being outside.

From PETA's perspective, the health that is most worth protecting, is the health of the pigeons.

Unless it's the health of a PETA member. Note the one that has Diabetes. Newkirk is it?