Operation High Roller saves raptors

I saw a press release this morning that captured my attention.  The US Fish & Wildlife Service was investigating roller pigeon clubs.  Roller pigeon clubs?  I’ve never heard of those.  Sounds like a cool bird club, I wonder if I should join.  I did a quick google & my stomach immediately dropped and felt sick.  I couldn’t believe my eyes, I felt so sick.   

Roller pigeon clubs are groups of people that kill raptors in order to protect pigeons and then brag about it on their websites.  You can watch disgusting video footage of all the different sorts of methods that these people use to kill hawks flying around in the sky.  You can watch beatings, gassings, and shootings as well as birds suffering seizures in flight.  Sickening.   

Here’s the latest news:  Seven men associated with roller pigeon clubs were charged with the fatal beatings and shootings of federally protected raptors.  This was part of a nationwide investigation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service called Operation High Roller.  The charges against the men are for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by harassing and killing migratory birds.   

A special agent for the investigation infiltrated the California club and learned about efforts to trap and kill raptors, specifically Cooper’s hawks, red-tailed hawks, and Peregrine falcons.  It is estimated that this club kills 1,000 to 2,000 raptors annually.  A leader of the organization claims that he keeps the talons of his kills in a five-gallon bucket. 

Listen to what these “bird enthusiasts” do—they compete with roller pigeons, which are native to England and have a genetic defect that causes them to flip backwards in flight.  The birds are bred to put on a show of birds rolling simultaneously in the air.  This display brings attention to predators such as hawks and therefore hawks are killed by the “enthusiasts.” 

As I saw the list of roller pigeon clubs websites on google and quickly minimized the screen so I wouldn’t have to look at them, I wished the maximum penalty upon all of them.  But what is the maximum penalty?  A mere 6 months in jail.  All those birds are apparently only worth 6 months.