festivals
White Wedding Doves – A Ritual in Criticism
For many, white doves are part of a wedding. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
Let white doves rise into the sky for the wedding: is that animal cruelty or romantic? Opinions differ on this.
Snow-white wedding doves flutter in the Brandenburg sky, released from the hands of Rainer Österwitz, pigeon breeder from Klaistow near Potsdam. The trained metalworker has a lot to do during this time: his pigeons are in demand at youth ceremonies, funerals and especially at weddings. The animals are released from the hand or a woven wooden basket, flutter a round over the heads of the celebration community and then fly back to their home loft.
The custom of launching pigeons has been around for many years. “White doves are the team on the heavenly chariot of the goddess of love Aphrodite. With Noah, they are the messengers of the end of the flood. In the New Testament, a white dove symbolizes the spirit of God. In general symbolism, the dove stands for peace,” explains Manfred Becker- Huberti, theologian and researcher of customs. “The flying of doves at a wedding represents the beginning of a new peaceful, happy and faithful union between two people.” It’s a rite of passage.
Before the pigeons make their first flight at a wedding, they have to practice the return flight at Österwitz. “Training is the be-all and end-all before the pigeons are allowed to fly at weddings,” he says. Accordingly, he drives the pigeons several times with increasing distance from the village to train the return flight and orientation. The pigeon fancier reports that he always doubles the distance to his home loft.
The return rate of the pigeons at Österwitz is around 95 percent for longer flights of up to around 150 kilometers. The remaining five percent went to the account of the goshawk or other birds of prey. According to him, the possibility of his animals getting lost and eventually dying can be ruled out thanks to the training. In addition, it is only about the immediate vicinity. “They usually get back there faster than I do.”
Animal rights activists criticize the business with the wedding pigeons for several reasons: “The moment that touches the wedding couple and the guests so emotionally means for many pigeons the certain death sentence at the same time,” says a spokesman for the German Animal Welfare Association. Many of the animals “fly, starve, die of thirst, die flying against power lines, from exhaustion, or from collision injuries, or are more easily preyed upon by birds of prey because of their conspicuous white color.”
Österwitz partially contradicts this criticism. There are certainly “black sheep” among the breeders who do not train for the return flight. In such cases, the pigeons lack orientation and die after their appearance at the wedding. Österwitz is certain that long-term breeders, on the other hand, never let the animals fly long distances without training. He never sends his animals out in bad weather or when it rains. Under these circumstances, the animals might find it difficult to orientate themselves.
Brandenburg’s Animal Welfare Officer Anne Zinke is also critical of the custom of flying pigeons at weddings. “Some pigeons are not sufficiently airworthy due to their physical constitution,” she says. In addition, holding them in the hand – as is usual at weddings between the bride and groom – causes stress for the animals.
Zinke considers the legal basis for the required permission to do business with wedding doves to be urgently in need of revision. The requirements for this are noted in a passage of the Animal Welfare Act, which dates back to 2000. It was “neither adapted to the amendments to the law that have since been passed nor to the current state of scientific knowledge,” emphasizes Zinke.
According to Österwitz, pigeons are one of the most traditional breeds in the world. They already existed in antiquity. During the world wars they were at the front. In some countries these days they can cost millions. The famous former boxer Mike Tyson is one of the most prominent representatives of the pigeon fanciers’ guild.
There used to be a lot of talk about the “poor man’s racehorse” or the “feathered racehorse”. Some copies can cost well over 100,000 euros. Österwitz says he once paid around 2,500 euros for a breeding pigeon. “But then you don’t let someone do the routes.” The danger from the hawk is too great.