Doves Banned in Western Oz

[Whiskers]

This might be a little incoherent because it's so late but I had to share...

My dad, stepmum and half-siblings run a circus that travels around Australia, Circus Ringbarkus. www.CircusRingbarkus.com.au They don't come to Western Australia very often because of the expense of getting over here, but they planned a special trip here this year to see me for Christmas and do a few shows.

Anyway. They just called me from the border a couple of hours ago telling me they wouldn't be able to come - they actually got rejected and are barred from entering the state. Because of security problems? No. Because of the dogs used in the show? No.

Because of the DOVES.

Remember a while back I posted here saying that conures and macaws were prohibited species here? Well, apparently doves are too. And when they found out my dad kept doves (they're partly performing doves, magic tricks and so on, but dad breeds them too, and loves them to bits) he was presented with three options:

1) Leave them with border guards that knew nothing about birds for three months while he was in the state,
2) Have them shot (!),
3) Obtain a special permit. Now this might sound reasonable, but not when he read the fine detail and discovered that among things like giving a wildlife officer the right to confiscate and kill the birds at any time without justification or appeal, it required both birds have ALL flight feathers ENTIRELY removed on one wing to prevent escape. So if they get startled or y'know, obey birdy instincts and try to flap about a bit, they're going to plummet and, particularly if performing on stage, probably injure themselves pretty badly. As far as I could ascertain, the official's response when this was pointed out was, 'So?'

So Dad isn't coming to visit this year, because he believes the welfare of his doves is more important than losing out on a couple of gigs in Perth. I agree. Western Australia has a very fragile ecosystem and of course we need to protect it, but when protecting it practically amounts to animal abuse something needs to be done. Dad cares more about his animals than anything else, and I'm so proud that he chose to protect them even though it means a week long drive back to civilisation with nothing to show for it, losing money on performances that have been booked for months, and the knowledge that as long as he wants to keep his doves he can never enter his own home state again.

I'm crying. But on the one hand I can't help but laugh. As Dad pointed out, how many places are there where the law requires the international symbol of peace be shot on sight?

[Busguy]

Wow, pretty amazing story but I have to say that the choice your Dad made speaks volumes for his character.

[Kevin]

Hmmm thats an odd one... Is there some crop out there they might destory or something... We have gazillions of doves around here, but don't make messes like pigeons, but again maybe the crops there are more up their alley. ie cereals, rices, etc....

[birdlady49]

It's starting to sound like any NON native species are banned from your state. Your father's doves .... were they the "common" white or ringneck doves? How strange.

[Whiskers]

Kev, I don't think so - I'm going to look up on it today but as far as I know it's just 'cause they're non-native. But the hilarious thing is that apparently pigeons are fine. Doves are a species subset of pigeons, but they're a no-no. These people are very strange.

Birdlady, they're the common white. But I found out a while back that conures are ok as long as you have a pet permit, which has none of the bizarre clauses that dad's dove one had. You'd think an escaped conure would have a bit more of a chance at doing damage than a dove!

[Kevin]

Found some peices online that some doves target various crops... I don't see a reason why they would have such a rule without some reasoning behind it...

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=001...OR-enlargePage


http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/vi...&context=vpc10



Granted they arn't geared towards australia but the govt prob see's it that way for similiar crops in that area.

[Beaks]

its all about disease vectors.

doves carry disease/bacteria that doesnt hurt them but can destroy native bird populations.

They are just being anal and safe at the same time

[birdlady49]

Well Australia has been a lot more successful than the United States in keeping its native species. So obviously they're doing something right!

[Whiskers]

It's not so much the fact that the species is banned as the terms of the permit for bringing a controlled pet dove (who was already wing clipped) into the state that bothered me. Oh, and the 'hey, if you want, we can shoot it for you' attitude. Blahhhh.