In defiance of a ban and angry protests from animal welfare groups, the barbaric Balearic Pigeon Shooting Tournament will be taking place again next month.
Live pigeons are launched out of a cannon into the air and fired at with shotguns. Unbelievably, this grisly annual competition, involving the horrific deaths of thousands of live birds, is considered 'sport' in parts of Spain. The shocking news comes despite legislation that was passed last summer in the Balearic Islands which prohibited the sickening competition under strict new rules that were introduced to protect animals from cruelty. However the Balearic Hunting Federation has announced that the contest will still take place.... their president, the aptly named Pedro Bestard, is defiant and announced “we will have a championship despite the laws that this Government is making”. To circumvent the new rules, the organisers are relocating the event to the mainland city of Cheste, near Valencia, where the law permits the cruel 'sport' of throwing the birds with a mechanical arm or an air tube before being fired at by the competitors. Both pigeons and quails are used in this appalling annual tournament. Their tails are brutally removed before the helpless birds are stuffed into the cannons and fired into the air. Without tails they have limited ability to manoeuvre in flight and this makes them easier targets. In Spain nearly half a million pigeons and quails are used in shooting competitions annually. UPDATE 5/2/18:- There is a petition to ban this abhorrent practice, you can sign it HERE
44 Comments
Babett weber
3/2/2018 06:13:42 pm
Heartbreaking
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4/2/2018 03:44:10 pm
The abuse of ANY animal pisses me off to no end. Spain needs to wake up and stop treating animals as if they were born for human entertainment. Only shows what a vile, cruel and backwards country this is - SPAIN SUCKS.
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Christine Harmer
7/2/2018 11:37:05 pm
I agree, it is unbearable.
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Debbie Macmilan
3/2/2018 06:29:40 pm
Spain is such a cruel Country where animals are concerned and I find it very difficult to understand why this isn't seen by many as a completely barbaric act as the poor pigeons do not have any chance of survival and are being completely disabled like a cannon ball! :(
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Joy Doogan
4/2/2018 07:57:50 pm
Save the pigeons
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Magdalena Demery
5/2/2018 07:06:43 am
Cruel, barbaric people. Shame on you.
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Mikael Olsson
5/2/2018 07:15:02 am
Stoppa djurplågeriet!
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Nina
5/2/2018 09:03:21 am
Found a petition! https://www.change.org/p/secretaría-de-medio-ambiente-y-desarrollo-territorial-procuraduría-estatal-de-protección-al-ambien-mariano-rajoy-pablo-iglesias-alberto-garzón-albert-rivera-pedro-sánchez-ministerio-de-educ-la-prohibición-del-tiro-al-pichón
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5/2/2018 09:29:55 am
Thanks so much Nina.
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Debbie Macmillan
5/2/2018 12:13:48 pm
Great re. the petition which I have signed/shared. I hope so very much that this has effect!!
Kim
5/2/2018 03:10:38 pm
The Spanish are barbaric and extremely cowardly. They take their basic blood lust on animals rather than be civilised.
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Lynfa Evans
5/2/2018 08:24:35 pm
This must be stopped
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Jeannie
5/2/2018 08:34:15 pm
This is animal abuse at it's worse... Needs to stop NOW... I have taken in lots of injured pigeons and cared for them due to evil arseholes that shoot them.... I would love to shoot the fuckers that do this .. Cowards the lot of them , killing innocent creatures... Hate humans...
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Kimberly
5/2/2018 10:29:44 pm
This needs to be stopped. Disgusting. Spain needs to be left to crawl for its economy as punishment for its "culture".
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Eileen Sewell
6/2/2018 12:02:35 am
What other horrors can people create to satisfy their sick sadism? This is utterly barbaric.
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cousin
6/2/2018 07:35:57 am
ignoble !! les pigeons sont si intelligents et beaux !! vous êtes des monstres
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ilse trauten
6/2/2018 07:45:31 am
das ist grösste Tierquälerei
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Brigitte OETTL
6/2/2018 07:47:56 am
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
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marion broekema
6/2/2018 11:31:51 am
ihr elenden Tierquäler,verrecken solltet ihr
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Madeleine Gfrörer
6/2/2018 12:35:52 pm
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
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Chani
6/2/2018 12:39:07 pm
Pigeons are our friends and not used to be killed as "cannon balls". The humans destroys the whole earth. One day they will be destroyed too.
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Karin Hammerbacher
6/2/2018 12:57:21 pm
What Bastards they are :-( I hate Spain...for dogs, for bullfight and now for pigeons :-(
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PATRICIA M BOECK
6/2/2018 01:33:28 pm
wth (EVIL POS)
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Christine Scholz
6/2/2018 03:13:11 pm
Widerlich und verachtend!
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Sylvia Müller
6/2/2018 05:26:33 pm
Shame on you people, who dare to act like this. What comes around, goes around! The eastern religions call this Karma.
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Janina Büttner
6/2/2018 06:43:40 pm
Stop it now!
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Nadja Walz
6/2/2018 07:20:33 pm
Stop Animal cruelty
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Gabriele Brand
6/2/2018 07:50:12 pm
Dass Menschen kulturlos sind, mag man aushalten müssen. Aber dass sie herzlose Bestien sind, ist unerträglich.
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Farges Erick
6/2/2018 07:52:40 pm
Shame
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Katja Fritzsche
6/2/2018 08:19:09 pm
People are not only disgusting beasts, you are heartless and cruel
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Tanja Hopf
6/2/2018 10:03:57 pm
Stop it now!
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Wilhelmine-Sophie zinz
7/2/2018 01:40:02 am
Ihr seid verachtenswerte " Menschen " Man kann euch nur Schlechtes wünschen ! Habt ihr keinen Respekt vor Lebewesen ? Menschen wie ihr sollten nicht auf dieser Mutter Erde leben !!
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7/2/2018 09:10:18 am
Thanks so much to all the good people who have commented here and shared the petition to get this horrific practice stopped.
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Edith Molocher
8/2/2018 10:43:34 am
PLEASE STOP THIS NOW !!!
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Rieger Klaus
8/2/2018 01:05:08 pm
PLEASE STOP THIS NOW
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Sabine pedersen
10/2/2018 11:36:27 pm
STOP THIS!!!! Poor animals!!!!
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bozena kordek
10/2/2018 11:52:52 pm
What a dishonor to Span!Shame,shame!
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Ellen Helen Jensen
11/2/2018 07:32:09 pm
Must stop !!evil ACT !!! SHAME!!!
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Dale
12/2/2018 12:09:28 am
This is unbelievably cruel and deplorable. It needs to stop and be outlawed.
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18/8/2018 08:29:05 am
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Michael
15/2/2019 10:09:19 pm
Ironically old dovecotes in Spain are home to Europe's largest population of Lesser Kestrel, now globally endangered. These old wonderfull adobe buildings, often Moorish in design are also home to Little Owls, Black Eared Wheatears, Spanish Sparrows, White Storks, Pigeons etc. All living check by jowl in apparent harmony. Thankfully many are being restored for wildlife and are protected for the future. Just a little ray of light in a bleak and cruel world.
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Kieran
20/10/2019 01:20:42 am
I saw this barbaric practice for the first time this evening, on a hike in a natural park (!) at the base of Mt Montgo near Xàbia. I couldn’t believe my eyes, to see such hard-heartedness and cruelty openly displayed by these disgusting men. My positive impression of Spain changed in an instant. These men are truly scum. And to tolerate this behavior or normalize it is to be just as filthy as they are.
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