The State Senate Judiciary Committee passed HB 1750, which bans the use of dogs and cats for food in Pennsylvania! Fantastic news! To top this great news is the amendment that was attached to this bill: banning live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania!!
You can watch the committee hearing online here: (http://judiciary.pasenategop.com/2014/06/25/senate-bill-671-and-house-bills-1163-and-1750-and-confirmation-hearings/)
(The Pigeon amendment vote starts at 11 minutes 30 seconds on the video.)
The fight to ban live pigeon shoots is one of the longest running issues in Harrisburg. It dates back to the 1980’s when protests were held at live pigeon shoots held in Hegins, Shuylkill County. The shoots were stopped but continued in other counties most notably Berks.
Please contact your State Senator and Representative’s office today and tomorrow . Call until HB 1750 passes!
SHARK– Showing Animals Respect and Kindness- had two investigators in Harrisburg for the committe meeting Friday morning.
SHARK is the only animal organization that has consistenly been on the front lines to expose live pigeon shoots via video documenting in Pennsylvania. They have had a constant presence at Winge Pointe Hunting Club, Berks County and the Philadelphia Gun Club where pigeon shoots are regularly held.
SHARK released a video last year in which iconic TV game show host Bob Barker asked Pennsylvania legislators to pass a bill to ban these horrifying cruel shoots. That video contained heartbreaking footage of one pigeon that was shot and landed by their videographer before dying. The camera captured the horrific suffering of one of the thousands who are brutally killed during these shoots. (You can view the Barker video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfPHvSJLuPc)
“Senator Richard Alloway made an eloquent speech about the amendment and how its purpose is to simply stop animal cruelty, not take away anyone’s 2nd Amendment rights as the NRA claims,” states SHARK Investigator Mike Kobliska who was at the hearing. “SHARK has video-documented many dozens of pigeon shoots and as someone who has seen the violence first hand, it was very gratifying to see the support the legislation had in the committee. Now we must work to make sure this bill is made law.”
In a rare show of solidarity, many hunters and NRA members nationwide joined the animal protection community in demanding an end to pigeon shoots. This can be verified by viewing comments to SHARK’s pigeon shoot videos on YouTube.
Most hunters I know personally are against live pigeon shoots. They don’t see them as hunting since no skills are utilized as when they are hunting other animals. They, too, find it cruel.
The NRA is upset over the actions of the Senate Judiciary Committe and is asking their members to contact their Senators and Representatives to vote no on this bill which could happen during this weekend.
“We are asking every resident to stand and help us end these shameful shoots which stain Pennsylvania’s reputation,” states SHARK President Steve Hindi. “Using living animals for target practice is barbaric and must be ended once and for all.”
I agree 100%, Steve!
Animal activists/advocates have been calling their legislators but calls are needed more than ever. A vote could take place as early as today or tomorrow. Time is of the essence!!
There are only a few days remaining in this session, your phone call is vital to ban dogs and cats for food consumption and to end cruel, live pigeon shoots, once and for all!
Please contact your State Senator and Representative’s office today, and tomorrow. Call until HB 1750 passes!
This is unbelievable news! Never thought I’d see this! Calling now! Thanks! Woo-hoo!
Way cool! Some very valid points! I like your style of writing. Keep itup. You seem like a real person whose talking to me instead of robotic writing. Thanks.
YAY! Our legislators are coming through! Where have they been all these years? How many thousands of birds have been killed so brutally because they wouldn’t deal with this issue. NRA- take note! We animal advocates are strong in numbers! You lose!
I applaud SHARK for what they’ve done to end live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. Without their documentation, we wouldn’t know what really happens at the shoots. Kudos to them, the Senators, the Committee, and our Representative. Keeping fingers crossed that the end is near and the suffering of pigeons will soon be over here.
Well, it’s about time!!! Been waiting to hear this news for decades! PA is so backwards! TRUTH!
Hegins. I remember that place. I didn’t go there but it used to be on the news and wondered why they wanted to kill thousands of birds. When it stopped there, I thought, foolishly, that it would stop in the entire state. Here we are over 20 yrs and maybe, just maybe, we will finally see the end of them. All right!!!!1
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I like SHARK. They are more down to earth and real than your other groups like the ASPCA, Best Friends and the HSUS.
Let’s see it happen first before there is any applause.