Pigeon racers back enthusiast

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This article was published 18/03/2011 (5402 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Local pigeon racers defended their “misunderstood” sport at city hall Thursday to help a North End man win his bid to keep 30 thoroughbred pigeons in his backyard.

In January, the city’s board of adjustment approved Robert Madlangsakay’s request to maintain an aviary for racing pigeons on his Anderson Avenue property. Madlangsakay has raced and bred pigeons for the past five years, a sport he first tried as a child in the Philippines.

Four residents appealed the decision, including longtime paramedic Joseph Narynski, who said the birds leave excrement on area properties and create an odour so strong some residents cannot garden. At a Thursday morning hearing, he told council’s appeal committee the birds routinely fly over his yard and poop on his deck, causing damage and raising concerns the birds could spread disease. “My deck gets splattered,” Narynski said.

But Madlangsakay and other local pigeon racers argued most people don’t understand the sport, and their birds are different than the ones Winnipeggers typically see on the street. Only half of Madlangsakay’s pigeons fly during racing season, which occurs between May and October, and the rest stay at home and continue breeding. During the off-season, the birds stay in their aviary.

Council’s appeal committee denied the appeal, giving Madlangsakay a green light to continue housing his racing pigeons in his yard. Madlangsakay said he was relieved by the decision, noting his immediate neighbours don’t have a problem with the pigeons and regularly barbecue in their backyard.

“They don’t complain, so where is the smell? Would you be able to barbecue if you could smell the poop?” he asked.

Winnipeg pigeon-racing organizer Bill Voulgaris said the birds are bred specifically for racing and have an innate instinct to fly home. There are about 10 pigeon racers who live in Winnipeg, he said, and begin training their birds in April. Birds are fed high-quality grain and take a variety of supplements, including garlic to purify their blood, to ensure they are in peak physical condition and can fly upwards of 100 kilometres an hour.

On race day, Voulgaris said enthusiasts meet in a central spot before they transport their pigeons to locations outside the city, including West Hawk Lake and as far away as Thunder Bay, Ont. From there, the birds are released and compete to be the first to fly home to their loft.

Leg bands with embedded radio- frequency chips track the time a pigeon arrives home, so racers can calculate whose bird recorded the fasted time and won the race.

Voulgaris said there needs to be more public education about the birds, as it’s clear from Madlangsakay’s permit hearing they are misunderstood. He said they are well cared for and have to be healthy in order to compete.

“It’s like comparing a wild horse or a donkey to a thoroughbred race horse,” Voulgaris said of the differences between street pigeons and racing pigeons.

Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie spoke in support of Madlangsakay’s aviary and said he believes the bird droppings some neighbours have complained about could be from sparrows or grackles.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca