Cape Town - Pigeon racing will soon come under the microscope of the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board who will be investigating to see whether there is any illegal gambling taking place in the sport.
A pledge by board chairperson David Lakay to investigate the sport was triggered on Friday when chairperson of the standing committee on finance, economic opportunities and tourism, Deidre Baartman, asked whether there had been any complaints to the board about pigeon racing and illegal gambling.
Baartman stirred the controversy asking: “Has there ever been any complaints about pigeon racing?
“I’m not sure about the finance model as in whether people win prizes or bet against pigeons, but the whole idea of pigeon racing is an interesting concept seeing as it made the front page of one of the biggest farming magazines in South Africa. The headline was ‘multimillion-dollar industry’.”
Lakay responded immediately, saying: “It is an illegal activity if betting is taking place. Pigeon racing has always been regarded as a sporting activity, much like football games where you play for a prize, but your prize is the trophy that you win at the end.
“It has not been touted as a gambling activity, but if anybody is taking bets, it will be regarded as an illegal activity. Now that you have raised it, we will do some investigation on the matter,” added Lakay.
During the 2018/19 financial year, the board investigated 60 cases of illegal gambling. Of these, 20 resulted in arrests but 40 investigations “had negative results”, said Lakay.
George le Roux, vice-president of the South African National Pigeon Organisation, said: “Racing is seasonal and races are held from the beginning of June to mid-October.
“Normally for 18 to 20 weeks during that period there is no betting on pigeons like on horses, but some organisations have a pool system where pigeons are nominated during the races for some prizemoney,” said Le Roux.
A statement from the National Council of SPCAs said: “The sport of animal racing is highly lucrative to human patrons but extremely detrimental to the welfare of animals.
"On the day of the race, the event and animals may appear to be acceptable; however, it is what happens before and after the races that are our main concerns.
“Many people believe that animals used in racing sports do so willingly and they were 'bred' to do so. Not many people know the extensive training these animals go through to enable them to compete,” said the NSPCA.
“More than 50% of pigeons being trained to compete in various races do not survive training and do not make it to the actual main race. More than 50% of the remainder of pigeons which make it to the main race do not return.
“This means over 75% of those entered originally do not survive.”