Outrage as starving pigeon dyed totally pink ‘used for gender reveal party’

2023-02-01

A pigeon was rescued after being dyed pink as part of a gender reveal party.

The bird is thought to have been purchased at a poultry market as it couldn't fly while it also showed signs of malnutrition after the event in from Madison Square Park, New York

According to furious animal rights groups, the dying of birds has become a worrying trend.

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Stephanie Schick who works at an animal rescue centre, said: "I've seen such an uptick in dyeing birds for gender reveal parties and other such ridiculous events.

"Makes me sick to my stomach. These birds have it hard enough without being dyed. Where there is one there are certainly going to be more, as they usually release these dyed birds in flocks."

The pigeon was spotted on Monday (January 30) by a bird lover who then transported the king pigeon to the Wild Bird fund, a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation centre on the Upper West Side, Manhattan.

Once brought in, the team worked on nursing the bird back to health, and named it Flamingo due to its colouring.

The Wild Bird fund released a statement, saying: "Please never release domestic birds to the wild. Not for weddings, funerals, celebrations, art projects, anything. (We'd hope that 'don't dye them' goes without saying, but…) They will starve or be preyed on."

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The group said Flamingo would be unable to survive in the wild because as it would be unable to find food, fly well or escape predators.

Antonio Sanchez, from the Wild Bird Fund, said: "I don't think we've ever really had a pink pigeon come into the clinic, so we were all pretty surprised.

"We were honestly disgusted that someone would do this."

Many on Facebook commented on the post put out on the charity's website condemning the behaviour.

"It has to be more widely advertised that weddings, etc, are no place to release this poor birds. Many people just don't realise the harm they are doing. There should be a campaign to make people more aware," one wrote.

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