MARK KERRISON | Photojournalist

Windsor, UK. 1st July, 2020. A bandaged giant pigeon with a crutch holds a sign reading ‘End Pigeon-Racing Cruelty’ at a protest by PETA UK activists outside Windsor Castle. Animal rights charity PETA UK is calling on the Queen, who is currently isolating at Windsor Castle, to cut ties with pigeon racing following a PETA US investigation which revealed that all eight birds sent by the Queen to participate in the 2020 South African Million Dollar Pigeon Race (SAMDPR) died in quarantine and that fewer than a quarter of the birds entered for the race subsequently completed it. Prior to the race, birds from all over the world are kept together in a loft, with the risk of transmitting illnesses including zoonotic diseases, and must endure long training sessions under the hot South African sun. In unfamiliar conditions, many birds become disoriented and die from exhaustion, dehydration or starvation.