Queen Elizabeth II Angers Animal Rights Groups

The Queen of England has come under fire from animal welfare organizations following the death of a number of her racing pigeons.

The UK monarch sent eight pigeons to participate in the South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race — an event widely recognized as “the Olympics of pigeon racing.”

All eight of Queen Elizabeth’s pigeons died during the 30-day quarantine period upon arrival due to being kept in cramped crates with a number of other birds.

“Extraordinarily Callous”

“Exploiting the extraordinary homing abilities of pigeons in this cruel manner so as to win a prize purse is extraordinarily callous,” said Elisa Allen, a director at PETA.

“PETA most respectfully urges the Queen to remove the royal loft birds from these deadly races and turn her Sandringham pigeon breeding mill into a sanctuary.” 

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Queen Elizabeth II

An investigation into the event revealed that just five of the 42 pigeons sent to the South African event by the Queen in the past six years have survived.

Some birds die from exhaustion, whereas others are killed for poor performance after the event.

Up until last year, Queen Elizabeth had also faced criticism from animal welfare groups for choosing to wear real fur products. Her senior dresser Angela Kelly revealed in an interview with Vogue in November that the monarch had finally swapped to faux fur.

Do you think the monarch will stop participating in pigeon racing? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!