Despite Animal Cruelty: Carrier Pigeon Keeping to Become Intangible Cultural Heritage

No tribute to animal cruelty: Carrier pigeon keeping, which includes pigeon racing, is currently being put forward by the carrier pigeon association for inclusion in the Nationwide Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the German UNESCO Commission.

The State Office for Intangible Cultural Heritage in North Rhine-Westphalia had added carrier pigeon keeping as a new entry to the state inventory and nominated it for the Nationwide Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage. A decision on whether carrier pigeon keeping will be included in the register is expected by October. Since so-called carrier pigeon sport is associated with considerable suffering for the animals, PETA contacted the relevant bodies at the end of July — the German UNESCO Commission e.V., the State Office for Intangible Cultural Heritage NRW, and the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. In their letter, the animal rights organisation appealed to those responsible not to include carrier pigeon keeping, which entails great animal suffering, in the Nationwide Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

«Using pigeons for racing is not a cultural achievement, but animal cruelty. Such bad practices must no more be recognised by UNESCO than bullfighting,» said Peter Höffken, specialist adviser at PETA. «Tradition does not justify animal suffering either. We therefore hope that carrier pigeon keeping will not be included in the register of intangible cultural heritage in a modern society with moral principles and in a country where animal welfare has constitutional status.»

Loss rates of over 50 percent

In Germany, around 25’000 of the nearly 50’000 racing pigeon breeders participate in competitive flights. An estimated 2.5 million so-called racing pigeons live in German pigeon lofts. In «racing pigeon sport», the performance of the birds is the central focus, while their wellbeing generally plays no role. In a study, Dr. med. vet. Warzecha et al. put the loss rates in pigeon racing — meaning birds that do not reach the destination — at an average of 53 percent.

According to a study by Swiss Animal Protection (STS), loss rates in examined competitive flights in Switzerland are around 75 percent. A 2012 investigation by PETA USA showed that in some European pigeon racing events, up to 90 percent of the birds fail to reach their home destination. When birds fall short of expectations and are unsuitable for further breeding, breeders often kill them without anaesthesia.

PETA is calling for a ban on pigeon racing. More on animal rights and the animal welfare problem.