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Malnourished Pigeon That Had Been Dyed PINK Is Rescued In Manhattan’s Madison Park After ‘Being Used At A Gender Reveal Party’: ‘Birds Are Not For Weddings, Funerals, Celebrations, Art Projects, Nothing!’
- The pink dove was brought to an uptown rescue organization by a Good Samaritan who noticed the bird wandering.
- The dove, nicknamed Flamingo, had never flown and was likely dyed as part of an experiment, a wedding party or a gender reveal.
- Wild Bird Fund professionals determined that the bird was likely purchased from a poultry market and would not be able to survive on its own in the wild.
On Monday, a good Samaritan rescued a pink pigeon from Manhattan’s Madison Square Park.
The bird lover transported the king pigeon, a domestic breed, to the Wild Bird Fund, a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation and education center on the Upper West Side.
The pigeon, which was subsequently named the Flamingo, was described as being in poor condition upon arrival.
The animal rescue group determined that the brightly colored bird had been deliberately dyed and possibly used as part of a gender reveal, experiment, or wedding party, prompting employees to release a statement:
‘Please never release domestic birds into the wild. Not for weddings, funerals, celebrations, art projects, anything. (We hope they ‘don’t get dyed’ needless to say, but…) They will starve or be preyed on,’ they wrote.
The Manhattan Wild Bird Fund issued a statement after the Flamingo dove was found and brought to the organization.
The Wild Bird Fund added that the bird appeared to have never flown before and was likely purchased from a poultry market. The bird also showed signs of long-term malnutrition.
Flamingo, the group said, could not survive in the wild because it cannot find food, fly well or escape predators.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a pink pigeon at the clinic, so we were all quite surprised,” said Antonio Sanchez of the Wild Bird Fund. “Honestly, we were disgusted that someone would do this.”
As a public service announcement, the fund issued a general statement on the treatment of birds:
‘Please never release domestic birds into the wild. Not for weddings, funerals, celebrations, art projects, anything. (We hope they ‘don’t get dyed’ goes without saying, but…) They will either starve or fall prey to them.
‘If you see a completely white pigeon in the wild, or any domesticated bird that seems lost, it needs your help. Trap the bird and bring it to a pigeon rescue center or animal sanctuary near you,” they wrote.
Madison Square Park, where the Flamingo pigeon was found and saved
The organization said it was surprised the bird had been dyed pink and then released.
In a statement, the Wild Bird Fund condemned the behavior of those who released the pink-tinged bird into the wild.
“This poor bird has it pretty bad as a domestic bird unable to find food in the wild, fly well or escape predators, but its bright and unusual coloring makes it an increasingly important target,” he said.
Many Facebook followers of the fund’s page were grateful that the pink dove had been helped, though employees were just as bummed that the naturally white dove had been dyed to begin with.
‘It needs to be advertised more widely that weddings etc. are no place to release these poor birds. Many people simply don’t realize the damage they are doing. There should be a campaign to educate people,” wrote Jill Koos.
Stephanie Schick wrote that as a fellow “rehab” she “has seen a huge increase in dyeing birds for gender reveal parties and other goofy events.”
It turns my stomach. These birds have it pretty hard without being dyed. Where there is one there are sure to be more, as these dyed birds are often released in SMH flocks,’ she wrote.