In an unapologetic display of animal cruelty, an anonymous group of terrible people released over two dozen pigeons into Las Vegas, with political accessories affixed to their heads. The group, which will not be named here, released the abused birds on Tuesday, in a “sarcastic” protest of the Democratic presidential debate the next day.
According to the local NBC affiliate, the group was inspired by a “Cold War-era CIA operation.” The BBC reports that the formerly secret details of that operation were just released in September.
The 1970s' operation was codenamed Tacana and explored the use of pigeons with tiny cameras to automatically take photos, newly released files show.
It took advantage of the fact that the humble pigeon is possessed of an amazing ability - almost a superpower. They can be dropped somewhere they have never been before and still find their way hundreds of miles back home.
The use of pigeons for communications dates back thousands of years but it was in World War One that they began to be used for intelligence gathering.
Going one further than the CIA did over four decades ago, the underground cabal of bird-harming extremists attempted to frame the hideous stunt as a “a sign of loyal support for President Trump,” according to News 3 Las Vegas.
At least one pigeon rescuer is not impressed, though, KSNV reported later in the week. Mariah Hillman, head of the Lofty Hopes pigeon rescue, called the stunt “absurd” and “ridiculous” on Thursday. Hillman also expressed hope that her organization might catch some of the abused birds, and rehabilitate them, but she also told News 3’s Max Darrow that what the anonymous deplorables did wasn’t illegal, and that since pigeons are typically considered “pests,” she didn’t expect authorities to do anything about the politically-driven animal cruelty.
She’s right.
A City of Las Vegas spokesperson tells News 3 there are city codes that mention pigeons, but, they’re considered wild animals. There isn’t a law on the books that outlines whether or not a person can put hats on pigeons or dress them up.
“It is different than putting a costume on a dog, because you don’t take your dog out and release him into the wild to wear that until it falls off,” she said.
The tiny hats and wig are apparently affixed with eyelash glue, according to the underground group behind the nasty stunt, and the pigeons are supposedly trained.
Remarkably, this isn’t the first time pigeons in the City of Sin have been subjected to wearing human garb. In early December, pigeons wearing cowboy hats were spotted around Las Vegas.
Hillman decried the amused response to those hats on birds as leaving the door open to the MAGA stunt. "It started here with the press making fun of it, the police didn't do anything about it,” she told KSNV on Thursday. “Now it's grown into this, so when is it going to stop, and who's going to do something about it?"
