Stop the pigeon shoots

The article ``The Great Pigeon Rescue,'' Nov. 29, was a welcome counterpoint to a scene that I have witnessed far too often.

For several years, The Fund for Animals has been campaigning to end captive pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. In these barbaric spectacles as many as 5,000 pigeons are released in a single day. Only a few of these birds escape. Some are killed outright, but most are wounded and die gradually. The injured birds that fall within the shooting area have their heads pulled off by ``trapper boys,'' young children whose job is to clear the area of dead and wounded pigeons.

I hope Pennsylvanians read your story and are touched by its message. Heidi Prescott, New York, The Fund For Animals Inc.

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