Kamikaze Pigeons: Appeals Court Increases Sentence Against Bird of Prey Hater

The Zurich Appeals Court yesterday increased the first-instance sentence against a pigeon breeder who released a so-called “Kamikaze” pigeon intended to poison a bird of prey. It is the first such case in Switzerland to be heard at second instance.

The Appeals Court found the 37-year-old pigeon keeper guilty of multiple counts of animal cruelty, multiple violations of the Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds, as well as other offences. It sentenced him to a suspended prison term of 15 months and a fine of 1,500 francs. In addition, the accused must bear the procedural costs.

Significantly Beyond the Lower Court’s Ruling

With this sentence, the appeals judges went significantly beyond the first-instance ruling of the District Court of Bülach. That court had imposed a suspended fine of 300 daily penalty units at 30 francs each — equivalent to a prison term of ten months — as well as a fine of 1,500 francs. The Appeals Court ruling is not yet final. It may be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.

But the appeals judges went not only beyond the lower court’s sentence, but also beyond the prosecution’s request. The prosecutor had demanded a suspended fine of 330 daily penalty units at 50 francs each, plus a fine.

The defence had pleaded for a full acquittal — there was no evidence whatsoever, it argued, that his client had laced the pigeon with poison. The accused Kosovar vehemently denied having anything to do with the decoy pigeon. He claimed it had been someone else’s animal. However, he repeatedly contradicted himself and came across as unconvincing.

Prosecutor Susanne Steinhauser was very satisfied after the verdict was announced. She praised the «clear language of the court», which had made it plain that using bait pigeons against protected birds of prey is no trivial offence.

Court has no doubts

As the presiding judge explained in the oral reasoning for the verdict, the court had no doubt that the pigeon prepared with a highly toxic substance was a bird from the accused's pigeon loft. It based this conclusion on the behavior of the pigeon, as well as on the behavior and statements of the accused.

A police officer specialising in animal welfare had discovered the colour-marked, unringed bird on 21 March 2016, when it was — untypically for a pigeon — alone near the pigeon loft and trying to get in. The officer had locked it in the outdoor enclosure until the pigeon keeper arrived and caught it.

Instead of handing the bird over to the officer, he threw it out of the enclosure into the air. However, the pigeon returned to the loft and was eventually caught. Its feathers were contaminated with a poison banned in Switzerland.

There was only one explanation for throwing the pigeon out, said the judge: «You knew perfectly well that the pigeon was poisoned.» Only the fact that it returned to the loft prevented a bird of prey from striking it and dying from the poison. Birds of prey are protected animals, and some species are endangered. Anyone who kills a bird of prey in the canton accepts the risk of exterminating an entire species, the judge said.

«Absolute Impudence»

The accused's use of a «kamikaze» pigeon was evidence of «absolute impudence and arrogance», said a second judge. While the animal cruelty inflicted on the pigeon was legally the most serious offence, for him the worst act was the attempted killing of a bird of prey — a violation of the hunting law.

For several years, birds of prey in Switzerland have repeatedly been killed after striking poison-laced pigeons. In the summer of 2016, a pigeon breeder was convicted in Switzerland for the first time on these grounds.