About The New York Pigeon Meetup

Friday, June 13

4 - 8 pm

Pilgrim Hill in Central Park
New York, NY
enter on 5th Avenue @ E. 72nd Street

Guest Speakers:

The Honorable Council Member Tony Avella
Deacon Joseph Dwyer (Cheri Ami - The Hero Pigeon)
Karen Davis, Ph.D., President, United Poultry Concerns
Valerie Sicignano, East Coast Director, In Defense of Animals
Additional speakers will be announced at a later date.

Speeches, materials distribution, candlelight prayer service with guitar accompaniment and pigeon shaped cookies. Learn how carrier pigeons Cher Ami and GI Joe saved the lives of more than 1,000 men in wartime. Become part of Project Pigeon Watch and have fun learning about our fascinating NYC residents.

Thank you to In Defense of Animals who will provide a banner, Hanna Fushihara Aron who will bake pigeon shaped cookies, God's Creatures Ministry who will provide candles, and the United Federation of Teachers Humane Education Committee who will bring Pigeon Watch materials for distribution.

Deacon Joseph Dwyer, graduate of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey; Ordained Catholic Deacon; Vice Chancellor for Administration for the Diocese of Newark; Board Member for Catholic Concern for Animals.

Co-authored ?A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion,? a document whose creation was sponsored by Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Deacon Joe speaks frequently on the need for kindness and compassion toward animals to be realized as a core spiritual value. Deacon Joe has contributed stories to Angel Animals and is published on Aunt Mary's Doghouse. Also a certified veterinary technician, Deacon Joe and his wife share their lives with three beloved dachshunds; Greta, Rommel and Spartacus.

Jan Fredericks, L.P.C., M.A.
Licensed Counselor Christian Educator Founder, God's Creatures Ministry
Chair, Catholic Concern for Animals-USA
Co-author of "A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion".

Karen Davis, Ph.D. is the founder and president of United Poultry Concerns (UPC), an organization that addresses the treatment of chickens and other domestic fowl in food production, science, education, entertainment, and human companionship situations and promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl.

In November of 1999, Karen and UPC were profiled in ?For the Birds? in The Washington Post, winner of the Ark Trust Genesis Award for Outstanding Newspaper Feature that year, and in July of 2002, Karen was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame ?for outstanding contributions to animal liberation.?

Karen is the editor of Poultry Press, the quarterly magazine of United Poultry Concerns. Her essays appear in collections that include Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations (Duke University Press, 1995), Terrorists or Freedom Fighters: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern Books, 2004), Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Studies Journal (Center on Animal Liberation Affairs, 2005), and Encyclopedia of Animals and Humans (Greenwood, 2007). Her essay ?Procrustean Solutions to Animal Identity and Welfare Problems? is forthcoming in a collection published by SUNY Press.

Karen?s books include A Home for Henny (UPC, 1994), Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey: A Poultryless ?Poultry? Potpourri (Book Publishing Co., 1999), More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality (Lantern Books, 2001), The Holocaust and the Henmaid?s Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities (Lantern Books, 2005), and Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry (Book Publishing Co., 1996; New Revised Edition, 2008).

Karen Davis maintains a sanctuary for chickens, turkeys and ducks at UPC?s headquarters on the Virginia Eastern Shore. In 1998, Ira Glass, host of National Public Radio?s This American Life, was so impressed with the chickens he met at the sanctuary that he told millions of viewers on Late Night with David Letterman, in 2007, that he hasn?t eaten chicken or any other animal flesh since.

Deacon Joseph Dwyer will be conducting a Candlelight Prayer Service for the pigeons of New York City, and will be accompanied on the guitar by Jan Fredericks.
Best Friends will have copies of the Proclamation available at the event.


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National Pigeon Day - In Defense of the City Pigeon
Friday, June 13
4 - 8 pm
Pilgrim Hill in Central Park New York, NY enter on 5th Avenue @ E. 72nd Street

Guest Speakers: Deacon Joseph Dwyer (Cheri Ami - The Hero Pigeon) Karen Davis, Ph.D., President, United Poultry Concerns Valerie Sicignano, East Coast Director, In Defense of Animals Additional speakers will be announced at a later date.

Speeches, materials distribution, candlelight prayer service with guitar accompaniment and pigeon shaped cookies. Learn how carrier pigeons Cher Ami and GI Joe saved the lives of more than 1,000 men in wartime. Become part of Project Pigeon Watch and have fun learning about our fascinating NYC residents.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, Apr. 29 -/E-Wire/-- Why do many people hate pigeons? Woody Allen inadvertently cursed them when he infamously described them as "rats with wings" in "Stardust Memories." Unfortunately, to paraphrase Henry David Thoreau, "The 'pigeon' you kill in jest dies in earnest." These birds do not deserve the jihad against them.

Currently in New York City, there is a particular problem of pigeon poaching, with people driving up in vans in pre-dawn hours, throwing out food for pigeons and then netting the birds when they land and eat. While it is thought that some of these birds end up in food markets or as fresh racing stock for homing pigeons, most of them are likely destined for shooting clubs in Pennsylvania, where gun clubs use them as living targets in bird shoots. Legislative efforts are underway to put an end to these events, but until then, the birds are deprived of food and water and are so disoriented upon release that a blind, drunk shooter with missing fingers would still be able to shoot some birds.

In addition to the poaching, some areas are proposing extreme local legislation and fines for feeding pigeons. Pigeons are peaceful creatures, faithful mates, exemplary parents, have the most amazing navigational and homing abilities, and are also considered to be one of the most intelligent birds on the planet. They have been proven to recognize their reflection in a mirror and are one of only 6 species (and the only non-mammal), that has this ability. They can recognize the letters of the alphabet and can differentiate between photographs.

In both World Wars I and II, carrier pigeons saved thousands of lives. In WWI, Cher Ami (Dear Friend) was awarded the French "Croix de Guerre" for saving many French soldiers by getting a message across enemy lines in the heat of battle despite being shot in the chest and leg. In WWII, G.I. Joe delivered a message to stop a bombing that would have killed a thousand soldiers. He received the "Dickin" medal for his bravery.

It is a great misconception that pigeons are capable of spreading disease to human beings through their droppings. Pest control companies have seized this irrational fear as a way of pumping up their business, but the fact is ALL animals and birds have the potential to carry and pass on diseases; however, the likelihood of this happening is virtually zero. Pigeons give a city a wonderful "flavor" ? they are part of the charm, they belong there. They are often a city child's first contact with nature, and an elderly person's only friends. It would indeed be a loss and a mistake to remove them from the scene.

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