ASPCA Offers $1,000 Reward in Brooklyn Pigeon Darting Case
NEW YORK, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) Division of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has been investigating reports of pigeons shot with blow darts since July 28, 1998, and has now retrieved, treated and released four pigeons. All of the pigeons have come from the vicinity of 8th Avenue and 5th Street in Brooklyn. The ASPCA will pay a $1,000 reward to anyone providing information that leads to the arrest of the disturbed individual carrying out this crime. Darting the pigeons is a violation of New York State animal cruelty law and can be punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine for each act. Please contact The ASPCA at 212-876-7700, ext. 4450 with any information about this case. The pigeons are cruelly shot with the four-inch metal darts, apparently from a blowgun. The darts do not kill the pigeons, but often go through their bodies and stay, causing the birds great pain as they try to continue to fly or feed. HLE agents from the ASPCA have been able to retrieve four pigeons from flock feeding sites; the birds were treated at ASPCA's Bergh Memorial Hospital in Manhattan and were released to their original area. Several more darted pigeons have been sighted, but are difficult to capture with a net. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded in 1866 as the first humane organization in the Western Hemisphere. Today, the ASPCA has over 475,000 members and donors, and continues to prevent cruelty and alleviate the pain, fear, and suffering of animals through nationwide education, awareness, legal and legislative programs. The ASPCA headquarters in New York City houses one of the area's largest full service animal hospitals, an adoption facility, and the Humane Law Enforcement Department, which is responsible for enforcing New York's animal cruelty laws. For more information about the ASPCA, visit our Web site at http://www.aspca.org.SOURCE ASPCA
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