A Message from HSBC Executive Director, Karel Minor
Berks County is one of the last places in Pennsylvania to still hold pigeon shoots. Pennsylvania is one of only two States in the United States to legally allow these shoots and the only one where they are still taking place. And right now Berks County can help bring this shameful and unsporting practice to an end.
The Pennsylvania Senate may soon be bringing SB 1150, which bans pigeon shoots, to a vote. It will be a close vote and many of our elected representatives have not yet taken a public position on SB 1150. We need your help now in order to convince undecided Senators to support the bill. Just a couple of Senate votes could be all that stands between this bill being defeated or becoming law. Shouldn't those Senate votes come from right here in Berks County, the last remaining stronghold of organized pigeon shooting?
SB 1150 is a very short and simple bill. It says three things:
- You can't launch or eject live birds and shoot at them.
- You can't tie a bird down to something and shoot at it.
- And that this law will not to make any changes to Pennsylvania's hunting laws.
You can't get clearer than that. Read it for yourself here-it's one page long.
Pigeon shooters claim it is a secret attack on gun rights. Where does it say that? I'm a gun owner. I don't see anything about taking my shotgun away.
Some "sportsman" clubs say that this is an attack on hunting rights. Where does it say that? The hunters who support the Humane Society of Berks County don't see anything about taking away their right to hunt. They see the provision that specifically prohibits this bill from doing anything to hunting regulations.
Some say that pigeon shoots are good old fashioned hunting. The Pennsylvania Game Commission disagrees. A Commission spokesman, Jerry Feaser, said that pigeon shoots are not what the Commission "would classify as fair-chase hunting."
Best of all, those who actually hold these pigeon shoots in Berks County are finally saying what they are really all about: "gambling, pure and simple." I'm not making this up, read it for yourself here.
Some of our elected representatives say they need to check with the pigeon shooters to see what they think about a ban. The last time I checked, our elected representatives represented everyone in their districts, not just the extremely few people who profit from the continuation of this antiquated and absurd "sport".
It's time that we, the vast majority of people, tell our elected representatives that the time to pass this bill into law is now. This is not a fight between hunters and animal welfare advocates, or between Republicans or Democrats. There isn't some fringe bunch of do-gooding pigeon huggers trying to get some crazy law passed. It's about moderate, mainstream people of all stripes, like you and me, who want to join the rest of the United States and end these pigeon shoots now.
Our elected officials don't want to hear from lobbyists on both sides about this issue. They want to hear from us, their constituents. So, let's tell them what we think and why the should support this no-brainer of a bill.
And let's tell the pigeon shooters who flock here to Berks County from around the country because it's the only place in America they can indulge their petty desire to shoot caged birds that we don't want them- or their dirty gambling money.
Please, take five minutes out of your day right now to help make that happen. Together we can get this bill passed.
