CRUELTY TO PIGEONS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 325, 10 April 1928, Page 13

CRUELTY TO PIGEONS

MAN SENT TO GAOL NO OPTION OF FINE : The recent fine imposed on a man who skinned a rabbit alive, and which roused so much controversy as to the inadequacy of the punishment, is rather different to the treatment accorded a man in England, who pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to pigeons. He was Enoch Pomfret, and appeared before the magistrates, who sent him to gaol for one month without the option of a fine. Alfred Aldred, secretary of the National Homing Union, said he had previously warned the defendant, without effect. In one of his cotes the witness found a live pigeon and one dead. The live bird was coated with filth to such an extent that it was impossible for it to fly. The cote was inches deep in dirt, and on top of two inches of filth in a drinking vessel was a small quantity of water which was beyond the reach of the bird. What little food there was was also buried in the dirt. Two other pigeons were living under similar conditions in another cote. The defendant, said the witness, admitted to him that he had not been near the pigeons for 12 months. The centre with which Aldred was connected had 2,500 members in 91 clubs, and the officials had brought the case in the interests of the members generally. The breastbone of the dead pigeon almost penetrated the skin. The defendant had nothing to say to the court.