AIBU to ask for help - lost homing pigeon?

[Periperipissoff]

Help me!

A homing pigeon has been hanging around for days, it's dirty, tired and soooo friendly.

It's beautiful, white with what looks like paint under its wings.

I read on here a while ago that if you report a lost homing pigeon they are collected and destroyed because obvs they aren't good homing pigeons anymore.

Is this true? Reading mixed reports about this online.

Sorry for using aibu for this but I don't know what to do. I don't want the little guy to get pts 😔

I once phoned the number on the ring and the owner was in Ireland while I was in Wales. He said give it some food and it might fly back.

😂😂 see, that just shows the level of care that “pigeon fanciers” have for their birds! 🙄

They couldn’t care less.

I, too, have a lost homing pigeon who has now become a semi-pet pigeon. I could never get close enough to see his number (and I was told bad things about pigeon racers) so I just decided to make sure he was fed and watered. I've called him Mark Thatcher. People look at me a bit weirdly if I'm away from home for a couple of days and I say things like, 'I hope Mark Thatcher's doing all right.'

Haha Mark Thatcher...very funny...

Nooooooo that's so sad 😭 I have tears in my eyes thinking about that wee pigeon looking for his baby 😭😭

I'm so pleased there are many of us who are kind to pigeons. They're such lovely wee creatures ❤️

OMG Mark Thatcher 😂😂😂 that's hilarious 😂

Growing up, we had several racing pigeons show up in the pine trees of our upper garden. Dad would put seed and water where they could see it, and once they got used to it, they would wait in the tree nearest to the bowls for them to be topped up until they moved on.

A couple of the rougher looking ones, dad took to the vet to be checked on, but they were just tired and hungry so he brought them home to keep nursing. Dad didn't try to get hold of their owners, he said they might be less likely to have their necks wrung if they at least made it home under their own steam.

One we thought was for keeps, he lived with us for months, let us stroke him, and moved into the shed where he'd nest in the straw that was being stored for the rabbits and tortoises. Poor old Lucky, I wonder what became of him?

I also noticed every pigeon has a slightly different variation on the cooing call they make. I could recognise all the different ones in the neighbourhood, so I know if they come back in the spring. They seem to over winter elsewhere (don't blame them!).

I agree completely
pigeon racing is a vile trade. In Taiwan thousand drown.
https://secure.peta.org.uk/page/18675/action/1?locale=en-GB

That video is horrific @GreekDogRescue, when I think "how much worse can a pigeons life be" ? taking them out in a boat in hideous weather to force them to fly , every increasing distances from boat-to-land . So many of them but die of exhaustion, and having to stand on wire mesh or tiny plastic boxes , they are stressed .before they're launched .

@Periperipissoff thank you for starting this thread it really has been an eye opener .
I used to watch the pigeins in Glasgow Central Station years ago , they seemed to a lot be the injured or mangled looking ones who gathered there , free food (though you cannot feed them , there's always going to be food scraps)
They didn't bother flying , just pottered a bit quicker . I wasn;t a fan of them but they weren't harming anyone , just getting on with things .

Sooo I picked batman back up today.

Intro with dog not great. She's scared shitless bless her. Was very playful at first which was so nice to see but then batman just suddenly took off and the dog ran off in the corner 😔 might try again but I've never seen her so worried

It likes to sit on shoulders

Try again to upload pic!

❤❤😍 Awww beautiful! I think your dog will adapt, LOL.

I've never seen her this anxious she won't even come near me now. Normally if she's scared of something e.g. Christmas cracker bangs she gets over it but I've never known her be this upset. She's been shaking, won't eat her treats, won't go near the kitchen where he is in the box and she normally lives in there when I'm pottering about 😔

The guy I spoke to from the pigeon fancier website is sending someone round to collect him and has assured me he'll be taken care of.

Oooh beautiful Batman ❤️

But your poor dog. I'm sure she'll come round and will soon be Batman's Robin.

Aaw cute. He looks very at home on your shoulder! On the theme of rescuing birds this has reminded me of the baby tawny owl that dive bombed our car - he landed on the pavement and was quite concussed, with his wing sticking out and blood coming from his beak. Our local vets were fantastic, took him in at short notice, refused any payment and found a home for him to convalesce with a local woman who runs a wild bird rescue. Here's a pic taken the next day just before he left the vets.

What a shame you can't keep him, but nice that he will be well looked after.

Nah its not happening just went to move the box, and dog ran outside and is now sat as far away from the house as she can get.

I could see her lips drawn tight and whale eye was out, she's really distressed. I don't think she'd want to hurt him but she might if she couldnt get away quick enough iyswim and she's my most treasured not so little thing, I don't want her upset in her own home.

I'm a bit gutted but he will go somewhere with little pidge pals and he'll be happier, as will the dog!!

I've just come across this thread! How absolutely sweet and marvellous!!
Thank you OP and others for caring about this most maligned of creatures.
I adore them. Always have. 😊

Awww bless your poor dog, but bless you also for doing right by both her and Batman. I'm sure he'll be happy with some new pidgey friends!

Ahh it is quite sad to part company from Batman after you've invested time and effort in his recovery but yes it does sound like the Batman/Dog dynamic isn't going to resolve and he will be with his own kind .

Think of it as Batman doing his bit to raise awareness on MN , I had no inkling of the hideous dark underbelly of pigeon racing .

Tell the dog you're taking the cost of the PigeonPants from her pocket money

Just to finish this thread off he's just been collected 😭

Such a shame, and we did have a VERY long discussion about how we can help the dog, as we think shed eventually get used to him, but another factor I'd not mentioned before is she has had surgery in the last few months for mast cell tumours. Vet thinks it's been successful but she's a breed that's predisposed to them and now she's had a few, there's a chance she'll get more. She's also still under regular monitoring to check the recent ones aren't misbehaving and coming back.

So if she is unwell in the near or far future, if she's forced to live with something she's even just a bit wary of (if we do manage to help her tolerate him being here) i cant risk her feeling unsettled in her own safe haven while she's poorly. And we'd all be even more attached to batman so it would worse to have to rehome him later rather than now.

Its been a wonderful, surprising experience with this little guy, and it's convinced us to get a house pidgie or two in the future ☺️ So the pigeon pants are stored for the time being as they'll be needed!

Thanks again everyone for all your support and advice ❤️

Aww, good luck to your dog.

And things crossed for pidgies in the future. Do let us know if you get some, no matter how far down the line.

And a brief update to say that Doveling and Bigfoot have decided that the bijou 3 door dovecote is not up to their needs. They are instead building a nest in my barn owl box on the back.

It had not been adopted by an owl, so now they have a roomy abode. Might investigate some breeding food.