An alleged pigeon pirate is ruffling feathers within the concrete jungle.
A longtime Brooklyn pet retailer proprietor is coming underneath fireplace after allegations resurfaced that he kidnaps pigeons from public parks and illegally sells them to hunters for use as dwell taking pictures targets, The Put up has realized – however his brother claims activists have pigeonholed the incorrect man.
Michael Scott, co-owner of Broadway Pigeon & Pet Provides in Bushwick, has been accused of purloining pigeons for many years, in accordance with animal rights activist Tina Piña, who claims her personal Brooklyn pigeon flock was ransacked by the shop proprietor this month.
“My beloved flock was netted a week ago, and I know that it happens – but when it happens to you, it’s different,” stated Piña, whose flock roosts recurrently at Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick and who organized a 60-person rally exterior the pet retailer Saturday.
About 15 to twenty of her beloved birds, which she has cared for for a decade, had been captured by a person on the park within the early morning hours of April 1, a witness informed Piña — who goes by “Mother Pigeon” on Instagram. The identical particular person reportedly netted extra pigeons within the days following – and Piña claims Scott is behind the bird-brained scheme.
Pigeon trapping on public property is prohibited and thought of animal abuse, in accordance with NYC’s 311 portal.
A request for remark from Scott, 56, was not instantly returned, however his brother Joey Scott, who co-owns Broadway Pigeon & Pet Provides, claims the duo have by no means caught pigeons from the road, and as an alternative dump undesirable pigeons from their inherited rooftop coop with out asking many questions.
“Dog trainers call me from different states, they want to come take birds,” he stated, including that he’s additionally bought white pigeons for funerals and weddings from the generations of birds they inherited from their grandfather in 1971.
“Some people come [buy birds] to do voodoo sacrifices, I’m sure,” he added.
“I don’t ask what they do with them, but they kill them and they train dogs with them … if I have my own pigeons and they’re mine and nobody else’s and I breed them, I’m allowed to do what I want with them.”
The Scott brothers beforehand got here underneath fireplace in July 2008 after an legal professional admitted the shop bought birds to a pigeon dealer in control of an invitation-only pigeon taking pictures match in Pennsylvania, the place such contests referred to as flyer taking pictures are nonetheless authorized, The Put up beforehand reported.
“The Humane Society of the United States believes that some of the pigeons who end up as living targets in the circuit of live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania come from the brokers at Broadway Pigeons in New York City,” a rep for the nonprofit informed The Put up on the time.
Although Piña stated the paper path for unlawful out-of-state pigeon gross sales is troublesome to pin down, it’s not stunning that her flock was ransacked simply forward of contest season.
“It’s timing … They collect the pigeons right before the weekend of the shoot, and then the pigeons are all gone,” Piña stated.
In a 2018 report expressing help for a Pennsylvania legislation that will make pigeon shoots unlawful, the New York Metropolis Bar Affiliation concluded that lots of the pigeons used for the Pennsylvania goal observe are illegally trapped in New York Metropolis and transported throughout state strains.
Greater than two dozen pigeon shoots passed off in 2016, in accordance with the report, during which 1000’s of pigeons had been shot. A few of the birds “suffered a slow and painful death, were denied veterinary care, and in some cases, had their heads torn off and bodies smashed by children hired to collect their bodies,” in accordance with the report.
“Netting” has been a phenomenon for many years within the metropolis, Piña contends, with 311 experiences courting again to at the least 2010.
Piña claims netting has taken place throughout town’s parks together with Father Demo Sq. within the West Village, Tompkins Sq. Park within the East Village and Washington Sq. Park – and even on road corners, in accordance with an Instagram video posted by activist group Pigeons4Miles, which claims to depict Michael Scott “or possibly one of his friends” within the act.
However Joey referred to as fowl play on the allegation.
He stated the person within the video isn’t his brother or affiliated with Pigeons on Broadway in any respect, and the shop is being framed by chook lovers.
“It’s not him, it’s a Spanish guy with a black beard [in the video],” Joey stated.
“The guys that do it, they’ve been caught by the cops,” he stated. “But the cops make them release the birds, that’s it. They don’t do nothing.”
John Di Leonardo, govt director of animal rights group Humane Lengthy Island, informed The Put up the problem of pigeon trapping and netting is lengthy overdue for an enforcement overhaul.
“The authorities need to investigate this, and [Michael Scott] needs to be arrested for the violation of state and local laws,” Di Leonardo informed The Put up. “Laws are only as good as their enforcement, and we need the NYPD to take animal cruelty seriously and arrest this guy. It’s been decades.”
“The city knows, the animal cruelty unit of New York City knows who is doing it,” Piña added. “They have license plate numbers, they have reports – they have decided this is something they don’t want to deal with.”
Piña has since determined she shall be taking the problem to social media and on the bottom demonstrations and protests all summer time – “until this stops.”
“It feels like a lost cause because the propaganda against pigeons is so strong,” she stated.
“They’re incredible creatures, and they give us life to the city … New Yorkers don’t have rivers and streams and forests to walk amongst — we have pigeons that bring us back to nature.”
