Racing Pigeon that Flew to Australia from US May be Killed Amid Quarantine Fears

[Turd Fergusen]

A racing pigeon from Alabama survived an 8,000-mile odyssey to Australia – but authorities there plan to kill the bird because it’s a quarantine risk.

Melbourne resident Kevin Celli-Bird said he discovered the exhausted bird in his backyard on Dec. 26 after it had disappeared from a race in Oregon on Oct. 29, The Associated Press reported.

He said the Oklahoma-based American Racing Pigeon Union had confirmed that Joe was registered to an owner in Montgomery, Alabama.

Experts suspect the bold bird hitched a ride on a cargo ship to cross the Pacific, a feat that has attracted the attention of media, as well as quarantine officials, Down Under.

“They say if it is from America, then they’re concerned about bird diseases,” Celli-Bird said, adding that officials called him Thursday about the bird, which has been named “Joe” after President-elect Joe Biden.

“They wanted to know if I could help them out. I said, ’To be honest, I can’t catch it. I can get within 500 mil (millimeters or 20 inches) of it and then it moves.’”

He said authorities were considering hiring a professional bird catcher to help capture the long-distance traveler.

The country’s Agriculture Department, which handles biosecurity, said the pigeon was “not permitted to remain in Australia” because it “could compromise Australia’s food security and our wild bird populations.”

Full Article:

Racing pigeon that flew to Australia may be killed amid quarantine fears

A racing pigeon from Alabama survived an 8,000-mile odyssey to Australia — but authorities there plan to kill the bird because it’s a quarantine risk. Melbourne resident Kevin Celli-Bir…

nypost.com

 

[Muriel Schwenck]

Get a cat to help.

 

[Sejanus]

FFS just deport it!

 

[BuffettGirl]

Meh, I might have been worried if it had been a native Oregonian, but Alabama and named Joe? Put it out of it's misery already...

 

[Blizzard]

A racing pigeon from Alabama survived an 8,000-mile odyssey to Australia – but authorities there plan to kill the bird because it’s a quarantine risk.

Utterly annoying Australian shithead government. Just ship it back to its owner. The owner can be IDd from the leg band. F U Australia.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

@Muriel Schwenck

My Loki is up for the job.

 

[Muriel Schwenck]

Utterly annoying Australian shithead government. Just ship it back to its owner. The owner can be IDd from the leg band. F U Australia.

The USA may not want it back for the same reasons, and the owner may not be able to afford the cost. Maybe you could start a GoFundMe for the bird.

 

[Blizzard]

The USA may not want it back for the same reasons, and the owner may not be able to afford the cost. Maybe you could start a GoFundMe for the bird.

If the owner doesn't want it back, then it is what it is. Or if US Gov prevented it. But it would be ignorant and shitty of US gov to do that. (not that they are not ignorant and shitty).

 

[Metalfan]

 

[Muriel Schwenck]

If the owner doesn't want it back, then it is what it is. Or if US Gov prevented it. But it would be ignorant and shitty of US gov to do that. (not that they are not ignorant and shitty).

The USA doesn't want germs from Australia any more than Australia wants germs from the USA.

 

[Blizzard]

The USA doesn't want germs from Australia any more than Australia wants germs from the USA.

People fly in that direction and bring pets tho!

 

[Muriel Schwenck]

People fly in that direction and bring pets tho!

And they must pay to quarantine their pets per Australian law. Remember when that dimbulb movie star sneaked his drop kick dog into Oz?
And bringing a pigeon back to USA comes under poultry which the US is very cautious about. It'll cost $$$

 

[Blizzard]

And they must pay to quarantine their pets per Australian law. Remember when that dimbulb movie star sneaked his drop kick dog into Oz?

nonon i meant the Australia to USA direction.

 

[Muriel Schwenck]

@Blizzard. Reread. You replied before I added the other direction to my comment.

 

[Blizzard]

@Blizzard. Reread. You replied before I added the other direction to my comment.

is a pigeon really poultry. pff.

just give the man his pigeon back!

JUSTICE FOR STRANDED PIGEON

 

[Satanica]

I guess if the pigeon wanted to return, it could or does someone have to point it in the right direction or what?

 

[Blizzard]

It's too far for it to just fly I believe. Also don't know how well their homing ability works from the literal other side of the planet.

 

[Muriel Schwenck]

@Blizzard, yes a pigeon is considered poultry by Customs and the USDA.
It's a free ranging bird, not a confined house pet. It's a practical classification.
@Satanica, the pigeon would have to be shipped and go through customs.

 

[Blizzard]

SAVE THE PIGEON

SAVE THE PIGEON

they won't care

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Was it wearing a MAGA hat?

 

[Totemic]

The US would do the same thing though.

 

[Satanica]

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A pigeon that Australia declared a biosecurity risk has received a reprieve after a U.S. bird organization declared its identifying leg band was fake.
[....]
The band number belongs to a blue bar pigeon in the United States which is not the bird pictured in Australia, she said.

“The bird band in Australia is counterfeit and not traceable,” Roberts said. “They do not need to kill him.”

Australia’s Agriculture Department, which is responsible for biosecurity, agreed that the pigeon dubbed Joe, after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, was wearing a “fraudulent copy” leg band.

“Following an investigation, the department has concluded that Joe the Pigeon is highly likely to be Australian and does not present a biosecurity risk,” it said in a statement.

The department said it will take no further action.
[....]
Melbourne resident Kevin Celli-Bird, who found the emaciated bird in his backyard, was surprised by the change of nationality but pleased that the bird he named Joe would not be destroyed.

“I thought this is just a feel-good story and now you guys want to put this pigeon away and I thought it’s not on, you know, you can’t do that, there has got to be other options,” Celli-Bird said of the threat to euthanize.

Celli-Bird had contacted the American Racing Pigeon Union to find the bird’s owner based on the number on the leg band. The bands have both a number and a symbol, but Celli-Bird didn’t remember the symbol and said he can no longer catch the bird since it has recovered from its initial weakness.

The bird with the genuine leg band had disappeared from a 560-kilometer (350-mile) race in Oregon on Oct. 29, Crooked River Challenge owner Lucas Cramer said.

That bird did not have a racing record that would make it valuable enough to steal its identity, he said.

“That bird didn’t finish the race series, it didn’t make any money and so its worthless, really,” Cramer said.
[....]
Lars Scott, a carer at Pigeon Rescue Melbourne, a bird welfare group, said pigeons with American leg bands were not uncommon around the city. A number of Melbourne breeders bought them online and used them for their own record keeping, Scott said.
[....]

Fake US leg band gets pigeon a reprieve in Australia

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A pigeon that Australia declared a biosecurity risk has received a reprieve after a U.S. bird organization declared its identifying leg band was fake.

apnews.com

 

[Blizzard]

Excellent news for the bird.

Still shitty that Australian authorities simply wanted it destroyed. Don't too much GAF about the rest of their overblown concerns. It's how I feel; will not change; shitty, heartless bureaucrats can well and truly go fuck themselves.

​

Also, I find this funny, considering the recent election:

Australia’s Agriculture Department, which is responsible for biosecurity, agreed that the pigeon dubbed Joe, after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, was wearing a “fraudulent copy” leg band.