We don’t have words to express how we feel about this case…
This poor pigeon was the victim of horrific cruelty. According to eyewitness reports, he was captured by a group of children before they cut off the feathers on both wings with a pair of scissors. If this wasn’t enough, they then repeatedly threw him into the air to ‘see if he could fly’.
It was only thanks to the intervention of a member of the public that he was rescued.
Arriving with a head injury and massive feather loss, we are trying to stabilise him before attempting an imping procedure in a few days time.
March 15th was imping day for this little pigeon!
Although these feathers will eventually moult naturally, this process can take a long time and the stress of extended captivity needs to be minimised.
Working together using colour-matched feathers from a donor bird (one that had, sadly, already passed away), Marco and Meriem set to work on the imping procedure. Each feather was carefully measured and cut to size before being glued into the existing feather shaft using an internal wooden dowel. With care being taken to preserve the shape of the wing (vital for flight) both wings were looking as good as new in no time!
He still has a little time left under our care, but we’re hoping he will be ready for freedom very soon…
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