Pigeon breeders have accused Chinese gangs of killing and mutilating prize birds in Belgium, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
64 birds have gone missing from the lofts of top fanciers in Belgium over the past few days.
The connection with China was made after witnesses concerned about fly-tipping photographed two "Asian-looking" men dumping bags of rubbish in an Antwerp woodland beauty spot last weekend.
Investigators then found that the sacks contained fourteen dead pigeons, each with a leg cut off and identity tags removed, according to the Telegraph.
A local breeder reported the theft of 14 birds the same day.
(Pigeon photo courtesy of ecosafewildlife.com)
Two Chinese nationals questioned by Belgian police on Saturday said that they were there on business "in the world of pigeon fanciers."
The men were allowed to leave after they presented legitimate proof of purchase of Belgian pigeons.
But the Royal Belgian Federation of Pigeon Fanciers are adamant that Chinese gangs are orchestrating bird theft, saying there have been ten cases of stolen top-birds so far this year.
Rather than take champion birds alive, the thieves are killing them for their ID tags which are much easier to smuggle.
"All they have to do is fit the stolen identification rings in China onto a bird a fraction of the value, which they then pass off as an ace racer," federation president Pierre De Rijst was quoted as saying.
"It really is an epidemic, a true plague," he said.
A pigeon that has won a national or international competition can be worth more than 14,000 dollars US, and birds in Belgium are renowned worldwide.
Last week in Britain a breeder had 43 of his top birds stolen from his allotment site, the Hartlepool Mail reported. The loss was worth up to 4,000 dollars US.
In a separate incident in Northern Ireland last month 100 pigeons were killed in a fire strongly suspected to be the work of arsonists, The Racing Pigeon Weekly reported.
Breeders saved some pigeons by opening up lofts to allow the birds to escape, but some found alive were so badly burned they had to be put down.
No comments:
Post a Comment