Graveyard Races: A PETA Undercover Investigation

Please click HERE to end similar cruel races in the US.


Background | Source PETA

On September 1, 2012, the National Flying Club released more than 5,500 pigeons from Fougères, France, for a large international pigeon race. The birds had to attempt to fly hundreds of miles back to the U.K., including across the English Channel, where winds can be fierce and exhaustion means drowning, and only 622 pigeons reportedly made it back home. The rest, some 89 per cent, are believed to have perished. This is just one example of the enormous number of casualties documented during PETA’s heartbreaking investigation into the secretive world of pigeon racing in Britain.

Our investigators went undercover at multiple races across Europe and gained access to all major British pigeon-racing organizations. Everywhere we turned, the findings were the same—most birds who are entered into pigeon races never make it home. Click here to learn more.

There are many reasons why pigeons don’t survive races. Young birds easily become disoriented, and because they have no experience at finding food, water, or shelter on their own, they often succumb to the elements, starvation, or predators. Pigeons used for racing are forced to travel extremely long and dangerous distances, including over the English Channel, which is commonly referred to as the “graveyard” in racing circles. They have nowhere to land if they become tired or injured or encounter treacherous winds and storms, and many of them die.

Those birds who do make it home aren’t as lucky as you might think. It’s common practice for birds who are not winning or producing winners to have their necks broken. Our video shows one man who kills a pigeon with his bare hands and leaves the bird, while the animal’s wings are still flapping, to die slowly in a paper bag.

Please click here to watch the video from our breaking investigation, and click here to learn more about the case.

The death of one animal, let alone thousands, is heartbreaking, but if you are like me, you must be thinking, “What is being done, and how can I help?” PETA is calling on residents of the U.K. to help us fight the European races, but we need you to help us end similar cruel races here in the United States. Find out more by clicking here.

we are pigeons and we are
born to fly,
but for your races
we are not born
to die!

Karen Lyons Kalmenson