Stop Live Pigeon Shoots

Police looking into new allegations of torture of pigeons at Bensalem gun club

By Chris English, staff writer | Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2016 5:30 pm






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Bensalem's Philadelphia Gun Club is again under fire from an animal rights group after a recently released video shows wounded pigeons allegedly being tortured during one of the shoots held at the club.

The video was shot by Stuart Chaifetz, a member and investigator for a group called Showing Animals Respect And Kindness. It shows what appears to be a young male dressed in a red hooded jacket walking along the banks of the Delaware River on gun club property. Gunshots can be heard in the background. It shows the youth repeatedly picking up wounded birds and throwing them back down. He also throws stones, snow and ice at the pigeons and prods, pokes and jabs them with a stick.

The video, which a little more than three minutes long, can be viewed by going to SHARK's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/SHARKonlineorg/.

Citing the ongoing investigation, gun club attorney Sean Corr had little to say when contacted Thursday.

"We are not able to identify the person involved but are cooperating with police," he said. "He appears to be downrange during the act of shooting and we do not station people there for obvious reasons during an active shooting."

Chaifetz, a Cherry Hill, New Jersey, resident, said he shot the video Jan. 30 from a public park in Beverly, New Jersey, directly across the river from the gun club.

"This was some of the most violent and disturbing video I have ever seen," said Chaifetz. "It is heartbreaking to watch these innocent birds being so brutally violated again and again."

Bensalem police Lt. William McVey said township detectives are looking into the claims.

"It appears to be abuse, obviously, when you watch it," said McVey. "We are disturbed by what is in the video. It's an active investigation. Our number one thing now is to identify the individual depicted in the video, which we haven't done yet. We'll continue the investigation and, if appropriate, charges will be filed."

McVey said he didn't know when the investigation would be completed.

Chaifez and other SHARK officials said the actions depicted in the video violate state animal cruelty laws and that the person shown in it should be identified, located and prosecuted.

"The Philadelphia Gun Club has a moral, ethical and legal obligation to have workers on the shoreline of the river to humanely kill any wounded birds that land there," said SHARK President Steve Hindi.

The video is the latest controversy surrounding the gun club over its pigeon shoots, which are held about 12 times a year. SHARK officials said members have filmed previous incidents of cruelty, and over the years various animal rights groups have protested the shoots at the club, located between the river and State Road.

A settlement to litigation between SHARK and the gun club reached late last year requires the gun club to "make all reasonable efforts to promptly retrieve and humanely dispatch wounded birds" during pigeon shoots. It also reduces the number of yearly shoots from 18 to 26 down to 12.

The settlement also places certain parameters on how SHARK can protest or videotape activities on gun club property.

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network filed a federal lawsuit against the club for allegedly polluting the river with residue from guns and ammunition during the shoots. While denying the allegations, gun club officials reached a settlement with the network in 2012 that among other provisions, paid the network $15,000.