Dear Editor:
It was with great dismay that I read the ABCnews.com article about the disastrous white “dove” release that occurred in NJ on 9/11. I had previous knowledge of the problem as a group I belong to was contacted by someone in the area who was deeply concerned about the birds that remained hanging around the buildings for days after the release.
Two very important issues here: 1) The person who “saved several hundreds of dollars” is incredibly wrong. Almost every single Dove company I know of, throughout the US and Canada, donated their releases to anyone who wanted them on 9/11. 2) The birds used were not homing pigeons. They were not properly trained, lovingly raised birds, as are “Dove Release” birds. They came from a poultry shop, so I am assuming that they were “utility” birds intended for the meat market. They cannot fly well at all, cannot fend for themselves in the wild. So in effect the person released them to a far more painful and drawn out death than they would have received at the market.
The Dove Release industry wanted to share their birds with the world on 9/11 as ambassadors of peace. And they did so, all over the world, in several different countries, at many many memorial services last week. A rough estimate of the numbers of birds would be somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 birds. One release alone was combined effort of several companies, who released 9/11 birds together. All of the properly raised and trained birds made it home safely that day, as they are supposed to.
J. Harsell
Ontario, Canada