News from The Vancouver Poultry & Fancy Pigeon Association Newsletter

U.K. Pigeons in the News

Oldham, U.K. - Two long time pigeons fanciers John Buntin and Robert Hellens were racing partners for more than 40 years in this town near Manchester, England. Both men died last year after suffering from cancer and as their dying wish asked their friends to hold an auction of their entire collection of more than 80 racing pigeons. The event was held at the local cricket club and attracted fanciers from across Britain and Ireland and raised 10,360 pounds which was donated to The Christie Hospital , where both men were treated, towards a new radiotherapy centre. The organizers were quick to point out that the auction was the idea of the two partners and were delighted by the support they received from the racing pigeon community.

Blackpool, U.K. - The Royal Pigeon Racing Association hosted the annual "Racing Pigeon Show of the Year" in this Lancashire town in January. The show attracted 30,000 fanciers from across the U.K. and Europe and raised over 80,000 pounds for charities. However despite the event's huge popularity there has been a long term decline in people across the U.K keeping racing pigeons and getting involved in the sport. One old timer attending the show summed up his interest in racing pigeons as "I just like doing it. I've tried drinking, I've tried gambling-you name it I've tried it- and there's nothing better than pigeons."

Accrington, U.K. - The Royal Pigeon Racing Association has a unique program to get school age children interested in pigeons. The association, along with school connections and staff , have sponsored the building of student operated racing pigeon lofts at several elementary schools. The lofts are outfitted with webcams, a timing system and tracking devices and the pigeons are entered in national competitions in the name of the school. Teaching staff use the pigeons as an aid in teaching geography and math and science to estimate timings and explain the principles of flight. Peel Park Primary School in Accrington has been so successful in competitions that the Queen has donated a bird from the Royal Racing Lofts to the school.

Its back! A low pathogenic strain (H5N2) of the avian influenza virus was discovered on a turkey farm at the E&H Farms property on Lefeuvre Road in Abbotsford in late January. Approximately 60,000 turkeys were culled by the CFIA and the farm was quarantined for three weeks along with 36 other commercial poultry operations that were located within a three kilometre radius or had links with the infected farm. Three weeks later a second outbreak occurred at a neighbouring farm , 12,000 chickens were culled and the quarantine expanded to include a total of 43 farms. The CFIA indicated " it is quite likely that this is an independent introduction of a virus into the barn". This brings back memories of the 2004 outbreak when 1.3 million chickens were infected by a virulent strain (H5N1) of the avian influenza and more than 17 million were eventually slaughtered in the Fraser Valley, the largest cull in Canadian history. During the 2004 outbreak, pigeon fanciers, other than those whose birds were kept in close proximity to poultry, were not directly effected. In fact some good ideas , such as the benefits of covered flight pens, came out of it. The real damage to the area pigeon fancy came from the impact the "hot zone" designation had on the show season due to restrictions on bird movements and the general perception by other fanciers and clubs that the Fraser Valley was an unsafe area. While no longer in the headlines, avian influenza continues to be a global problem. The Chinese media recently reported the sixth human death from avian influenza in 2009. Since locally it appears we are just going to be able to control the virus rather than eradicate it, the threat to our pigeon fancy will remain.