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Indian police seize 150 'spy' pigeons smuggled over border with Pakistan

Police become suspicious after finding birds have magnetic bracelets attached to them

Gabriel Samuels

Tuesday 18 October 2016 11:10 BST

It is not the first time India has investigated pigeons thought to be from Pakistan (iStockphoto)

Over 150 ‘spy’ pigeons have been seized by police in India, after officers became suspicious they were being used for espionage.

A police spokesman from the city of Jammu in Kashmir state said a large number of pigeons had been discovered “cruelly” packed into a banana container and were rescued under the Cruelty to Animals Act during a routine inspection.

Security officials noticed the pigeons had coloured rings attached to their legs and magnetic bracelets around their necks, raising suspicions about what the birds were being used for.

The pigeons were reportedly suffering from severe dehydration following their journey, and were handed over to local welfare charity Save Animals Value Environment (SAVE).

An activist from SAVE said the largest pigeons had had their wings clipped, Times of India reported.

The local deputy commissioner in Jammu has ordered an investigation into the capture of the birds, and said the pigeons would only be released once the investigation was completed.

Last week, police in India intercepted a suspected spy pigeon after it was found to be carrying an “abusive” note addressed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Where not to visit if you love animals

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1/9Where not to visit if you love animals

Where not to visit if you love animals

Monkey shows

Chimpanzees are forced to perform demeaning tricks on leashes and are often subject to cruel training techniques. Animals who are confined to small, barren enclosures and forced to perform unsurprisingly show symptoms of stress and depression. Chimpanzees have been documented rocking back and forth, sucking their lips, salivating and swaying against enclosure perimeters in distress.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Marine parks

Some parks confine orcas to concrete tanks and force them to perform meaningless tricks for food - many die in captivity. Orcas are highly intelligent and social mammals who may suffer immensely, both physically and mentally, when they're held in captivity.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Tiger shows

Tigers are forced to live in an unnatural and barren environment and have to endure interactions with a constant stream of tourists. Since tigers never lose their wild instincts, across the world they are reportedly drugged, mutilated and restrained in order to make them “safe” for the public. However, every year, incidents of tiger maulings are reported at this type of tourist attraction.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Donkey rides

Sunning on the beach is great for humans – we can take a quick dip or catch a bite to eat when we get too hot or hungry. But it's pure hell for donkeys who are confined to the beach and forced to cart children around on the hot sand. Some donkey-ride operators at beach resorts in the UK even keep the animals chained together at all times.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Swimming with dolphins

Some marine parks use bottlenose dolphins in performances and offer visitors the opportunity to swim with dolphins. Unfortunately, people are often unaware that these animals are captured in the wild and torn from their families or traded between different parks around the world.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Canned hunting

Lions are confined to fenced areas so that they can easily be cornered, with no chance of escape. Most of them will have been bred in captivity and then taken from their mothers to be hand-reared by the cub-petting industry. When they get too big, they may be drugged before they are released into a "hunting" enclosure. Because these animals are usually kept in fenced enclosures (ranging in size from just a few square yards to thousands of acres), they never stand a chance of surviving.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Running of the Bulls

Every year, tourists travel to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls. The bulls who are forced to slip and slide down the town's narrow cobblestone streets are chased straight into the bullring. They are then taunted, stabbed repeatedly and finally killed by the matador in front of a jeering crowd. The majority of Spaniards reject bullfighting, but tourists are keeping the cruel industry on its last legs.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Horse-drawn carriages

City streets are no place for horses. The animals toil in all weather extremes, suffering from respiratory distress from breathing in exhaust fumes as well as numerous hoof, leg and back problems from walking on pavement all day long. As easily spooked prey animals, horses subjected to the loud noises and unexpected sounds of city streets are likely to be involved in accidents, even deadly ones.

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Where not to visit if you love animals

Zoos

The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed and traded without any regard for established relationships. Zoos breed animals because the presence of babies draws visitors and boosts revenue, yet often, there's nowhere to put the offspring as they grow, and they are killed, as we saw with Marius the giraffe in Denmark. Some zoos have introduced evening events with loud music and alcohol which disrupt the incarcerated animals even further.

EPA

Officials said they believed the bird was sent from Pakistan, and clipped its wings to prevent it flying back to the country. Animal rights campaigners have condemned the clipping of wings as being inhumane.

Pathankot police officer Rakesh Kumar told AFP police were "investigating the matter very seriously" as the “area is sensitive” near Jammu.

On 23 September, another pigeon with "some words written in Urdu" was found in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district and taken into custody.

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