FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996
CONTACT:
Heidi Prescott, (301) 585-2591, Heidi@fund.org
Mike Markarian, (301) 585-2591, MikeM@fund.org
Hegins Township Police have charged 19-year-old Scott Bradley of Mansfield, Tioga County, as a suspect in the head-biting incident at the Labor Day pigeon shoot in Hegins, Schuylkill County. Police cited Bradley for disorderly conduct and cruelty to animals.
The arrest came as a result of video footage and photographs of the head-biter that The Fund for Animals distributed to the media. The Fund offered a $500 reward for information leading to the man's identity and conviction, and anonymous tipsters called The Fund to report Bradley, a man matching the description who is currently staying in Minersville, Schuylkill County.
Says Heidi Prescott, National Director of The Fund for Animals, "The Hegins pigeon shoot is a vile event where obnoxious drunks bite the heads off living animals. How much worse does it have to get before Governor Tom Ridge and the Legislature stop ignoring the problem?"
Although Governor Ridge defends the Hegins pigeon shoot as a local issue, The Fund for Animals maintains that at least five Pennsylvania counties regularly hold live pigeon shooting contests -- Berks, Dauphin, Erie, Montgomery, and Schuylkill. Most of the shooters come from out-of-state, because they would be arrested in their home states for doing what they do in Pennsylvania -- shooting and wounding thousands of tame pigeons in the name of a contest.
Adds Prescott, "Pigeon shoots are not a local issue; they are shaping the nation's image of the entire state. Does Governor Ridge want his state to be known as the only one where parents and their children watch drunks bite the heads off live animals? I highly doubt he would allow his own two children to watch such a violent and disgusting activity even on television."
To view the series of photos The Fund distributed to catch the head-biter please click here.