King Pigeons

I've always loved animals, all animals. They have been my life-long passion. I read about animals. I watch nature programs. I spend time with animals. Animals are the one thing I am most interested in. But early on, when I was still a kid, I decided I couldn't work with animals to earn a living. I have strong feelings about how animals are treated and I figured, if I was a Vet, that I would be confiscating pets from unworthy owners and thus not able to earn that living. All my life I've nursed this passion for animals on my own time and according to my own rules (meaning outside the constraint of others' rules). If I came across an animal in trouble, I rescued it and did my best to get it the most appropriate care. (Living in the SF Bay Area really helps with that.)

Last year, after eighteen years of earning a living (thirteen amazing years fighting poverty and five making toys), it occurred to me that my self-imposed 'no working with animals' rule might be misguided. I decided to start volunteering at an animal shelter to test myself and my rule.

I've learned a lot in my seven months of volunteering so far. One thing is that my rule was probably a smart one. You can't unsee what you've seen and, once in, it's very hard (impossible?) to get out. I LOVE the rescue work that I do and I get a lot of joy and satisfaction from it but I have a funny, trapped feeling sometimes, like I can't keep doing this but I can't stop doing this either. Also- it has taken over my life.

I volunteer at the San Francisco Animal Care & Control Center (SF ACC), the same place I adopted my dog, Monkey, from twelve years ago. I started out as both a 'Dogs' volunteer and a 'Smalls' volunteer but there were so many Dogs volunteers (plus I couldn't keep up with two shifts per week) that I became purely a Smalls volunteer. 'Smalls' are the rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, hamsters, mice, reptiles and birds.

Smalls volunteers take the animals out (mostly) of their cages for socialization and recreation. Of course it is heart-breaking to see so many abandoned pets. People buy some cute little pet and then, because it sheds, shits, chews stuff or makes noise or whatever, get rid of it. Often not before allowing it to reproduce and make a few more unwanted pets. [Don't buy, don't breed- adopt! There are way too many wonderful pets out there being euthanized because they don't have homes.]

SF ACC and the many Bay Area animal rescue organizations make the volunteering bearable because they work so hard to find homes for so many. SF ACC has a 'kill rate' of about 15%. Most shelters around the country are closer to 50% and many go much higher. Every type of animal, just about, has rescue groups working to help get them out of SF ACC and into homes. Usually animals that are up for euthanasia are rescued by nonprofits such as the SPCA, SaveABunny, RocketDog, Cavy Spirit, Mickaboo, etc. which get the pets into foster and eventually permanent homes.

I was suprised when I started volunteering to see an animal I'd never even heard of coming in: King Pigeons. Prior to last August, I'd NEVER heard of a King Pigeon. Since then, I've placed eight in homes, adopted one, buried one, am fostering eight and building an aviary to keep them in a happier, healthier enclosure. I spend my every free moment on King Pigeons, either learning about and caring for the ones I have, outreaching on their behalf, developing adoptions or just sitting and watching and enjoying them.

A King Pigeon, also called a Utility Pigeon, is one that is bred to be eaten. They're bred to be big (lots of meat) and white (nice pink skin which consumers prefer) and (I'm guessing) easy going. They are, in my experience and from what I've been told in my pij networking, extremely calm birds. They're not tame (though they can be tamed easily) but they're definitely not wild. When they're about three weeks old, they are sold as squab. (Google it- lots of recipes and fancy restaurants!) In SF, they're sold live in Chinatown and at Farmers' Markets. Some escape, some are purchased and set free (a favor most don't survive) and some are kept as pets but get lost. We get about two in every week at SF ACC.

Of course, no one ever comes in looking to adopt a King Pigeon. Who would? Who even knows they exist? And SF ACC charges an adoption fee of $15 per but, if you did want one, you can buy them for $5 each all over town.