Animal Cruelty or Shrewd Business? How Pigeon Poaching is Decimating Flocks in This Major Metropolitan Area

Pigeon poaching is a topic many outside New York City may not be familiar with. While pigeons live in nearly every city and town across the United States, it is New York that is home to one of the largest populations. Consequently, these pigeons have been targeted since the 1980s by those who grab them en masse for profit.

Despite pigeon poaching being around for decades, it is becoming a bigger issue now. Flocks of pigeons are literally disappearing overnight from parks and street corners, so they can allegedly be sold and taken across state lines, where they will face a horrible death while attempting to fly to freedom.

What is Pigeon Poaching?

Pigeon poaching is the illegal taking of pigeons from public spaces. Because New York City and the surrounding boroughs are home to a large pigeon population, pigeon poaching is big business. In fact, estimates range from there being one pigeon per every New Yorker to a total of approximately 425,000. That means that the city has become an easy hunting ground for pigeon poachers.

Pigeon poaching is a controversial topic. Some people feel passionate that the pigeons are an iconic part of New York and deserve to be treated with compassion. Others see pigeons as vermin and applaud those who poach the pigeons, thereby significantly decreasing their flock size and overall population.

The way pigeon poachers catch the birds is almost formulaic, according to Tina Piña, aka Mother Pigeon, an artist and pigeon activist. Piña knows this firsthand after her approximately 300-pigeon flock was decimated by half by a pigeon poacher on April 4, 2025.

“They drive around in unmarked vans. The vans don’t have license plates,” Piña explains. “It happens between 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. They park on street corners and get a bunch.”

Piña explains that the process for poaching pigeons involves laying down large nets and sprinkling a significant amount of birdseed within the net. The pigeons fly in, begin eating the food, and are nabbed in the net. They are then put in cages in the backs of vans, never to return.

How Pigeon Poaching Became A Problem In New York City

Pigeon poaching has been a problem in New York for decades. The number of pigeons taken from the areas they call home has noticeably decreased flock sizes, but there is no data on just how much. However, the topic has gained massive traction over the last several months after a man named Dwayne Daley was caught red-handed poaching pigeons in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village on April 30, 2025.

Daley was arrested for netting pigeons. Following a police investigation of his van, 25 pigeons were found in cages, along with additional empty cages and nets. The pigeons were freed, and Daley was taken to jail and slapped with a number of animal cruelty charges. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office stated that Daley “overdrove, overloaded, tortured, and cruelly beat and unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated, and killed an animal, and deprived an animal of necessary sustenance, food, and drink.” The crime, however, was deemed to be “not bail eligible,” and Daley walked free shortly after being arrested.

Pigeon Poaching is Big Business

Pigeon poaching is increasingly problematic because it’s fairly lucrative. In fact, poachers can make decent money by trapping and selling the birds. Each bird, according to an anonymous pigeon poacher, is worth $5. These poachers receive calls from various out-of-state organizations requesting a specific number of pigeons. With orders that range from 10 pigeons to dozens more, an investment in a bit of bird seed, some cages, and nets is all it takes to turn a profit multiple times per year.

According to animal rights advocates, there simply is not enough to deter poachers from taking pigeons, nor do enough people care, which is why the issue continues to be a problem. “Everybody in the animal cruelty unit knows about [pigeon poaching],” Piña says. “They just don’t care.”

Where The Pigeons Go After Being Poached

With so many pigeons being poached, the question remains: Where do the pigeons go? The pigeons are taken across the New York State line and are delivered to Pennsylvania, where they are used in pigeon shoots.

According to Piña, the pigeons are taken right before the pigeon shoots. “They collect the pigeons right before the weekend of the shoot, and then the pigeons are all gone,” Piña explained in an interview with Brooklyn Magazine.

One store at the center of the pigeon poaching is Broadway Pigeon & Pet Supplies. Co-owned by Michael and Joey Scott, the duo is accused of accepting poached pigeons and facilitating orders by gun clubs in Pennsylvania who have upcoming shoots.

When the store was contacted on June 3, 2025, A-Z Animals was told by a female employee that any information regarding the pigeon poaching would have to “go through the owner, who would be back on Saturday.” When A-Z Animals tried to reach the store again on June 7, the “call could not be completed as dialed” and “the party was temporarily unavailable.”

In April 2025, Michael Scott was asked if he was involved in poaching pigeons. While he described those who are known pigeon poachers, Scott did not explicitly state that he was not involved. “They got three different people netting pigeons in the street. Do any of them look like me?” Scott asked The New York Groove. “One’s a short Asian guy. The other’s a short Spanish guy … Do I look short, stocky, young to you?”

Scott says he has “no idea” why he would be accused of selling poached pigeons by the activists who are claiming his shop is directly involved. “Maybe they don’t like people who keep pigeons,” Scott explained to The New York Groove. “I don’t know.”

It should be noted, according to Brooklyn Magazine, that an attorney representing Scott in the 2008 case admitted the “store sold birds for use at a pigeon-shooting contest in Pennsylvania.” Whether this is still ongoing is unknown.

Pigeon Shoots Are Still Legal In Pennsylvania

Pigeon shoots have been banned in 14 states and are considered illegal in nine others under animal cruelty laws. Pennsylvania has tried to get legislation on the books to ban pigeon shoots in the state for over a decade. In the most recent legislation, pigeon shoots were described in very explicit detail:

“In pigeon shoots, live birds who have been captured and kept in dark boxes are released into the air to be shot by participants in a contest. Observers estimate that 70% of the birds are wounded but not killed outright. After each round of shooting, wounded birds are collected — often by youth with no training in proper euthanasia methods — and are killed by slamming, snapping or snipping the head off, or by breaking the neck. The birds are then tossed into a barrel or pile of dead and dying pigeons and discarded as garbage.”

It looked like 2024 would be the year for making that happen, but like years’ past, the bill has again stalled.

What Is Being Done To Combat The Pigeon Poaching Problem

To combat the pigeon poaching, advocates like Piña, her “right-wing woman” Megan Walton of the pigeon sanctuary, Pigeons for Miles, and others are working on making it common knowledge that pigeon poaching is happening in New York City and the surrounding areas.

Walton is relatively new to the advocacy scene, having just started her rescue three years ago. She says that it was not until she started educating herself on pigeon care that she was introduced to Piña. It was then that Walton learned what was happening with the pigeons in New York. “I did not know about any of this three years ago when I first got into pigeon rescue,” Walton shares. “I didn’t even know the full extent of how exploited these birds are in every conceivable way.”

It was not until Piña’s flock was taken that the protests and rallies officially started to inform New Yorkers of the pigeon poaching problem. John Di Leonardo, an anthropologist and advocate for animals, spoke at one of these rallies in May, pushing for more rights for pigeons and harsher punishments for those who poach them. “It’s imperative for prosecutors in New York City to prosecute animal abuse,” Di Leonardo said, via One Green Planet, “whether it’s dogs, cats or pigeons.”

Protests have also been held outside of Broadway Pigeon & Pet Supplies to bring awareness to customers about the alleged sale of poached pigeons that occurs in the store. The goal of all of this is for people to no longer turn a blind eye and help protect the pigeons. “I would like it to be so well known that when people see [pigeon poaching], they call 9-1-1,” Piña adds. “The main thing we want is to spread the word. Letting people know is going to change it.”

Piña concludes, saying, “If the police officers want to look good, they need to arrest people.”

Advocates Believe Punishment For Pigeon Poaching Is Not Harsh Enough

The problem with stopping pigeon poaching, according to advocates, is that the punishment is not harsh enough to deter poachers. As seen with Daley, who has been arrested for netting pigeons in the past, there is no jail time. Those who are found guilty may pay a fine, but the largest fine for animal cruelty in New York is $1,000.

What makes the situation even more difficult is that rock pigeons are not protected in New York. They are also excluded from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Consequently, if deemed to be a nuisance on public property, all that is needed is a permit to permanently remove them. On private property, pigeons can be killed without a permit.

Until animal cruelty laws are severe enough that it becomes counterproductive to poach pigeons, the poaching will continue. This is why, according to advocates, it is so important to call when poachers are caught in the act. Maybe they will not go to jail, but for now, they will be taken off the streets long enough to return the pigeons they have caught back to the place they call home and give them a chance to live another day.

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