# Rescued Racer- now What?!



## Amyou06 (Oct 20, 2016)

Hello..about a week and a half ago, a WTCM racing showed up at my house in Morgantown, WV...about 450 miles from NYC. I keep wild bird seed out for my feeder, and he quickly caught on, I would feed him separately and gave fresh water...he continued to come back, some nights even sleeping on my deck....i got in touch with some folks who know more about this than me and said he is asking for my help..not literally..lol but you know... I am a huge animal lover, adopt all my pets from shelters, and now learning about some of the negatives with racing and all these lost birds and the unfortunate outcomes for a lot of them, I figured I need to catch him and do something..
So I caught him yesterday, he's a little timid with me..I set him up in a giant dog crate with a loft and a mirror, straw, fresh food water...it's a start...but now I'm trying to interact with him, give him time with me..he knows me from this past week and a half as I always could come out and feed him and get rather close when setting food down... So now I know he's not going to come around immediately, in fact he may never...but I want to ensure he's getting exercise, etc..

I guess Im questioning if keeping him indoors with limited flight time daily is the best thing for him.... He seemed happy flying about, coming and going as he pleased...if I make a box for him on our deck, and allow him to live outside, maybe he'd be happier? I know the risks of being outdoors are there with predators, etc. But in the mind of a bird,( in a worst case scenario) would 6 months or a year living free be better than a lifetime in partial captivity in my house..... I honestly don't want to keep him inside if he won't be happy.. I have two cats and a dog, a toddler, now a pigeon lol... Have I done the right thing in bringing him in? When should I allow him to fly around for the first time in my house? I have him in a guest room, as to not overwhelm him with all my pets and what not..and i can close that room to let him out...the rest of my hosue is very open concept which made me nervous...letting him out and having a terrible time getting him back in his cage...

I realize theres about a million questions in this one post, sorry for the crazy thought process... just trying to rationalize my decision to capture him and since I've done so, how do I ensure I give him a good life...Thanks everyone!


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Thank you for helping him! Pigeons seem to know when people want to help. You have been chosen by a pigeon, which is an honor. That us how we got into pigeons. Would consider an indoor aviary. Our birds live in large flight cages in a shed but our first rescued feral, Phoebe, had a flight cage in a bedroom by our desktop computer and seemed to have a happy life. We took her out for at least an hour twice daily and were her flock. We have cats so we just gave her the bedroom as her room. She loved coming out of the cage and did not struggle against going back in...we always fed her after play time outside the cage. She was very bonded to people. Our current pigeons have friends and mates. So would consider getting another pigeon possibly for your pigeon friend and giving him an indoor home where he will be safe.


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## mateeb4u (Aug 19, 2014)

> a year living free be better than a lifetime in partial captivity in my house.....


I dont think so, Except of the feral pigeon (Rock dove) are domestic birds, and domestic birds like to live with human , interest of both of them attached with each other, if we dont keep them in captivity slowly slowly domestic breeds of all animal and birds dead and gone and become ancient.
It good to keep him captivity after 2-3 open the cage and let him fly if you can do you also do on daily basis .
It what i think , let see what the other people say
Thank

enjoy with you new pet


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## Amyou06 (Oct 20, 2016)

Do you mean to wait 2-3 days to open his cage and give him some space to fly about in the room I have set up? I'm worried he may injure himself or struggle getting him back in the cage.. i know eventually I have to try, just want to know best practices for that first introduction outside of the cage, in my home...


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## Amyou06 (Oct 20, 2016)

cwebster said:


> Thank you for helping him! Pigeons seem to know when people want to help. You have been chosen by a pigeon, which is an honor. That us how we got into pigeons. Would consider an indoor aviary. Our birds live in large flight cages in a shed but our first rescued feral, Phoebe, had a flight cage in a bedroom by our desktop computer and seemed to have a happy life. We took her out for at least an hour twice daily and were her flock. We have cats so we just gave her the bedroom as her room. She loved coming out of the cage and did not struggle against going back in...we always fed her after play time outside the cage. She was very bonded to people. Our current pigeons have friends and mates. So would consider getting another pigeon possibly for your pigeon friend and giving him an indoor home where he will be safe.


Thank you, he is so sweet...a little timid and backs away from me when I try to put something in his cage...i'm hoping he'll get used to me and realize I'm not goign to hurt him. He doenst show any obvious signs of injury or mites, etc...do you recommend getting him to a vet just to get checked out? I think I'd also feel better letting him fly around if i know my family and I aren't at risk to catch something, or have mites all over my house.


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## Amyou06 (Oct 20, 2016)

Interestingly enough, I did reach out to the contact via the IF page based on the code of the band and I DID email the person who supposedly would be the contact for this specific race/category/owner, what have you..I still havent heard back that was over a week ago. My first instinct was to get the information on the band and contact someone. From there and with the time passing without anyone reaching out, many searches and others I've now spoken with have told me about the negatives of this industry. I didn't even know this existed until this poor bird showed up on my deck. So please don't assume that I havent made attempts to at least find the owner and determine what the next steps would be from there, but since no one is contacting me back, here we are. I have spent the last week and a half caring for and keeping a bird alive that they set loose almost 2 months ago. Please don't make assumptions about my character.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

If the owner doesn't bother to respond I'd say it's now your bird. You have taken care of him. He is lost and likely would not make it back 450 miles. You don't have to release him.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

WTCM World Trade Center Memorial Race birds are shipped from all over the US to this race.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...NzpwQ_rhixLYRmpRw&sig2=AiQ_pqIqoMcc1na0dQnE3Q

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...mws4yH5ttZgjb6Tfg&sig2=uYNUfu5-6OTsRdJzEdAZgA

The first is a link to the race with phone numbers, and the second is a facebook page you may get some onfo if you want to.
Dave


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

In the meantime while you wait to see if the owner will respond to your contact attempts, would let the bird acclimate inside and after a few days, let him fly around inside the house. He will soon be your friend. As a domestic and not feral bird, he deserves care and concern. Some owners of racing birds will definitely do anything it takes to reclaim them and some really don't want birds returned who don't find their way home.


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## mateeb4u (Aug 19, 2014)

cwebster is saying right . Roger That


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## SRSeedBurners (Jul 22, 2015)

sandy68 said:


> if you found a dog horse or other domesticated animal in you garden would that if you fed it become yours ?
> Sandy



Yep. That's how we got our first dog. Back before the internets, we checked the vet and looked for posters. He lived with us for 14 years.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

If the birds owner steps up and retrieves the bird, that is one thing. If the owner doesn't respond, I applaud Amyou06 for adopting him. There are too many unwanted, abandoned, discarded animals of all types. They live short sad lives, end up in kill shelters, die alone hungry and cold, are eaten by predators, etc. and they deserve better I think. Didn't someone famous say societies are judged by how they treat their children, elderly and animals, those who cannot advocate for themselves? We are all here on PT because we love and admire pigeons. Pigeons are loving wonderful beautiful creatures who mean no one any harm. If one gets lost and cannot get home I would hope he would be adopted by someone kind who will love him so he can have a quality life.


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## SRSeedBurners (Jul 22, 2015)

sandy68 said:


> Yes but you checked the vets and for posters question is did you put up posters for a found dog or just decide to keep it at that point ? In all consciousness did you try everything to repatriate it with its owners?
> I'm grateful that you gave the dog a good home most are abandonned and not wanted.However pigeon fanciers mostly send birds to races after long training and do not abandon them they look for them to return perhaps even winning the race a totally different scenario wouldnt you agree
> All the best
> sandy


Put up posters? Hell no. It isn't my problem. The dog, we named him Micah, had buckshot in his back and was found cowering in our barn. He was abused and unwanted. 

Your world of racing pigeons is very small. I belong to multiple parrot 'fancier' groups and can't tell you how many times I see a "I found a pigeon with a band on it". Parrots also have bands, the information on those bands is near meaningless on a found parrot. So they assume it's the same on pigeons and most bird people keep those pigeons and have no idea it was a racing pigeon. It's a sport with risks and it isn't up to the general public to do everything in their power to return your pigeons that you set free hundreds of miles from their home. That's pretty much the take of us from the "general public".


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Well Amyou06 I think you did you're part you sent an email, if they don't get in touch with you that is on them not you. Some one said this bird was sold, you pay $50 for the band and send the bird for the race in hopes of wining several thousands of $$$ weather the bird wins or not you don't get you're bird back the trainer keeps it. 
Dave


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