animal cruelty
Taube dies after a couple dyed her pink for a baby shower
The pink hair dye spelled mortal martyrdom for the pigeon
© Wild Bird Fund / Facebook
To announce the gender of their baby, a US couple spray-painted a dove pink. What was meant to be a nice part of a party spelled death for the animal.
In Germany they are spreading more and more, in the United States so-called gender reveal parties are standard. These are events where a pregnant couple solemnly announces the sex of the child. There is often a big showdown, and these parties often produce strange results. And sometimes someone gets hurt – at a party in New York it hit a pigeon, reports the “Mirror”.
One couple wanted to announce the baby’s sex by coloring the animal accordingly: blue for a boy, pink for a girl. As the child was to be a girl, the couple sprayed the dove with pink hair dye, the party seemed to be a success – just not for the poor bird. Save the animal protection organization “Wild Bird Fund” from the streets.
Pigeon dies from toxic fumes
The animal was barely older than a baby and was unable to provide itself with food after it was abandoned, the organization said on Facebook. Accordingly, the pigeon was found severely malnourished. She had also inhaled toxic fumes from the dye as a direct result of the Gender Reveal Party.
The animal rights activists took care of the bird, which they called “Flamingo” because of its color. Using water, heat, oxygen, and medicine, they tried to wash off the paint and reduce the fumes. But the self-sacrificing help came too late, the dove did not survive.
Domestic birds should never be released
The organization used the sad occasion to point out that birds that have grown up in captivity should never just be released into the wild – even if you think you’re doing something good for them. “They don’t have an instinct to survive and they either starve or become prey,” Catherine Quayle of the Wild Bird Fund told NPR. As romantic as the idea sounds, “this is not a way to celebrate anything”.