What Do I Do Now?

[Vicki]

I have been 'looking after' a lost pigeon for just over a week now. It has mostly been in the garden, but I have made sure it has been properly fed and watered.

 

Through the lost / found section here I have managed to trace the owner. He was supposed to be here this morning to collect his bird. We spent ages yesterday catching the poor thing (it was happy sitting on my daughter's climbing frame and our big sycamore!) and it has been in a cat carrier ever since. He hasn't turned up and I have wasted the whole day waiting in for him, when we really could've done with getting the children out and about on one of the only rain-free days we've had

 

It looks unhappy being contained.

 

What do I do? There is no answer on the landline number we were given, and to be really frank think I have done more than my fair share looking after someone else's bird.... had better add that I am no pigeon fancier, in fact I'm quite scared of birds!!!

 

What's next? Any advice please?

[THE FIFER]

sorry for your problem, where did the owner come from, was it far from you , where do you live maybe someone on the site could be near you and help,

[Vicki]

He's just under 2 hours away. My husband spoke to him on the phone last night and he said he was leaving at 9am today - even accounting for bad traffic, it wouldn't take 6 hours to get here! If he's left late or has a problem, that would be fair enough but its just bad manners to keep us waiting all day like this

[Henrik]

He's just under 2 hours away. My husband spoke to him on the phone last night and he said he was leaving at 9am today - even accounting for bad traffic, it wouldn't take 6 hours to get here! If he's left late or has a problem, that would be fair enough but its just bad manners to keep us waiting all day like this

Where do you live Vicki, maybe someone nearby who will come and take it off your hands

[blucock]

He's just under 2 hours away. My husband spoke to him on the phone last night and he said he was leaving at 9am today - even accounting for bad traffic, it wouldn't take 6 hours to get here! If he's left late or has a problem, that would be fair enough but its just bad manners to keep us waiting all day like this

 

Please feel free to put the ring number and letter details on here - the fancier concerned is out of order. If you would prefer you can pm me the details of the bird/and /or fancier.

 

Hopefully someone will sort this for you, disgusting way to treat a member of the public and a terrible attitude to display our sport!

 

Baz

[Vicki]

The number is GB 11 B 11314.

 

The owner said his son lives locally to us - we are in Worthing, West Sussex and he is coming from Poole. I wonder if he's having the day with family and collecting on the way home??? Even so, very annoying to be waiting all day... husband is talking about letting the bird go as its getting distressed in the cat carrier.

[blucock]

Vicki to be honest, if the bird is now fit and rested it should make home no problem from there now. You are right the bird won't like being in there. Best idea is wait until morning and transport it at least 3 miles away - it should then clear for home - I am saddened to hear no show from the fancier concerned. You can report him to the RPRA you know.

 

Baz

[Vicki]

How do I know if it is fit and rested? I suspect it is... seems to have enough energy to try and get out of the box, poor thing. Its been in there for 24+hrs now and it seems cruel to me.

 

I'll hold on to it until tomorrow and then let it go.

[Guest TAMMY_1]

and you wonder why folk look down on pigeon men,most are really genuine fanciers who are only too willing to help but like all things in life you get the odd rotten apple.

[Guest geordiejen]

hand it into the rspca and they will soon get it sorted.

[Vicki]

I will give our local animal hospital a call in the morning, see if they will take it. Although I suspect not as he is not injured, and not really lost any more as we know who he belongs to...

 

Its 5:30pm now, that's enough waiting, isn't it? I can't see him coming now. We've had to move Pidge to a cardboard box as the cat carrier was filthy. Just hope he'll be ok in there. I'm due to have a baby any day now, I really wish I hadn't got this involved!!!

[Vicki]

Owner has called - apparently came all this way, had 'problems' and is now back in Dorset.

 

Pidge has been released from my garden, at owner's request.

 

Thanks for all the replies

[Guest Owen]

Vicki

I am sorry that yiou have had to put up with someone who definately does not represent the sport. The vast majority of Fanciers are decent caring people who would not mess you about for the World.

[DJWa]

Vicki

I am sorry that yiou have had to put up with someone who definately does not represent the sport. The vast majority of Fanciers are decent caring people who would not mess you about for the World.

 

owen read the last post

 

the owner phoned saying he went for the bird but had trouble, possibly with his car.

if he only had vickies phone number at home,

he would of had to wait untill he returned there before being able to contact her.

with him phoning it doesnt sound to me as he was trying to avoid

collecting his bird just circumstances were against him

 

welldone on looking after the bird and taking the time to find out who the owner was,

it is appreciated by most fanciers, who are well pleased to get lost birds home

 

thanks again

dave

[Guest IB]

Thanks (and sorry) for all the bother you went to to help this pigeon on its way home.

 

Best wishes for the forthcoming addition to your family.

[Vicki]

I don't know what happened, it just seems a bit odd that you'd travel for 2 hours and go home empty handed

 

At least I'll know what to do if I find another one! Pidge, however, may end up being a permanent feature in my garden....

 

Thanks for all of the good wishes for baby. My next challenge!

[eastcoaster]

A Bunch of Flower`s and a sorry goes a long way .Doo Men

[pigeon359]

Have to disagree with Dave on his response to Owen. All that comes from your post is making excuses for the owner by thinking up yourself what could have been the problem with contact.It clearly wasnt anything like you have "THOUGHT" and if YOU read the latest post by the finder you will READ that she STILL does not know what the problem was??? There is no mention of NOT having a phone number, car trouble,or ANY other reason for that matter.His car apparantly made it all the way back home again! Would the owner not have mentioned this to the finder if that were genuinely the case? Would anyone else go to a strange place and leave the most important peice of contact information at home? The finder is NOT amused and quite rightly so! She has NOT been given a reasonable explanation for the owners lack of contact and when he did eventually contact her he gave her NOTHING as an excuse for his non apparance.The finder is STILL unaware of what the reasons were and she was obviously fobbed off with words of no meaning.After going through all this trouble of tending this bird in her garden for a week,to then be told to liberate the bird in her garden when it hasnt even cleared after the first week,is nothing more than scandalous! All these so called fanciers are doing is giving the sport a bad name and excuses should not be made for them.It is very unfortunate that Vicki's first experience with pigeon fanciers is on a NEGATIVE level and who can blame her? There are rotten apples in everything in life and what could have been a wonderfull experience or insight into the sport of pigeon racing has been met with a NEGATIVE attitude. Anyone reading this can see that this owner has fobbed Vicki off with meaningless excuses and has probably never even left poole for the journey!Dont make excuses for these so called fanciers, use your energies and thoughts to thank the finder and appologise for their bad experience.....Dont make up excuses for so called fanciers who dont deserve them! You did a grand job Vicki and thank you for caring. I just wish it was one of MY lost favourites that you had come across as I would have been more than appreciative Good luck with the forthcoming baby....hope all goes well!

[DJWa]

Have to disagree with Dave on his response to Owen. All that comes from your post is making excuses for the owner by thinking up yourself what could have been the problem with contact.It clearly wasnt anything like you have "THOUGHT" and if YOU read the latest post by the finder you will READ that she STILL does not know what the problem was??? There is no mention of NOT having a phone number, car trouble,or ANY other reason for that matter.His car apparantly made it all the way back home again! Would the owner not have mentioned this to the finder if that were genuinely the case? Would anyone else go to a strange place and leave the most important peice of contact information at home? The finder is NOT amused and quite rightly so! She has NOT been given a reasonable explanation for the owners lack of contact and when he did eventually contact her he gave her NOTHING as an excuse for his non apparance.The finder is STILL unaware of what the reasons were and she was obviously fobbed off with words of no meaning.After going through all this trouble of tending this bird in her garden for a week,to then be told to liberate the bird in her garden when it hasnt even cleared after the first week,is nothing more than scandalous! All these so called fanciers are doing is giving the sport a bad name and excuses should not be made for them.It is very unfortunate that Vicki's first experience with pigeon fanciers is on a NEGATIVE level and who can blame her? There are rotten apples in everything in life and what could have been a wonderfull experience or insight into the sport of pigeon racing has been met with a NEGATIVE attitude. Anyone reading this can see that this owner has fobbed Vicki off with meaningless excuses and has probably never even left poole for the journey!Dont make excuses for these so called fanciers, use your energies and thoughts to thank the finder and appologise for their bad experience.....Dont make up excuses for so called fanciers who dont deserve them! You did a grand job Vicki and thank you for caring. I just wish it was one of MY lost favourites that you had come across as I would have been more than appreciative Good luck with the forthcoming baby....hope all goes well!

your burying the fancier without knowing the facts

i also dont know any of the facts but was only trying to

look to the fact that he may actually be telling the truth

who knows he may or may not have made an effort to get his bird back

but we are wrong to condem him and taking it for granted that he didnt

[pigeon359]

Hi Dave, again I have to disagree with you.I can understand what you are saying........if it were the case that there are NO facts here.There are indeed plenty of facts here and I dont need to bury anyone as the owner is doing a perfectly good job of that all by himself. If you read the posts it is plain for all to see that this owner has made no effort whatsoever in making this non fancier think well of our sport, nor has he even made her feel good about herself for all of the effort she has put into tending this bird and trying to return it to its rightfull owner. All he has done is make Vicki wish she hadnt bothered with any of it and after all is said and done at the end of the day, she STILL does NOT know the reasons for lack of contact or reasons for not picking the bird up.We are dealing with a non fancier member of the public who knows nothing of our sport and who only wants to do a creature a good turn. Every effort possible SHOULD have been made into making Vicki think highly of our sport,and its members, and not be made to think it was all a waste of her time.It did NOT happen that way and she is left feeling bewildered by the whole experience. FACT!!

 

Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous as liberating a bird from a garden which it has already been living in for the past week and getting fed and watered at regular intervals? Do you expect this pigeon to CLEAR? I think NOT! This only shows that the owner was not interested in getting this bird back, as he, as a pigeon fancier, would have known that this bird would still stick around! What was wrong in getting his son to pick the bird up ASAP from this non fancier as he stays quite local or within distance? His SON could then have taken on all of the burdens of returning the bird.....to his DAD!

 

These happen to be facts Dave and show clearly that this owner has made NO effort whatsoever in resolving this situation. I dont know how many facts you need to BURY someone but as I see it, he has already buried himself! I am not having a go at your good self Dave nor am I judge and jury over this owner.The FACTS speak for themselves though and are plain enough for all to see. I have not buried anyone who has not buried themselves already and I dont see why excuses should be made for these so called fanciers.

 

This owner should have appologised profusely to Vicki for NOT picking his bird up and ruining her day.........regardless of the reason behind it. Instead he left her, following a phone conversation, with NO understanding whatsoever of his failure to resolve the issue of her trying to help HIM and HIS bird. FACT!!

 

If you read into the posts it is not hard to see what has went down here and as far as I am concerned this so called fancier has buried himself WITHOUT any help from me and deserves anything that is said about him. I am sorry if you dont agree with me and my opinions and that is your right, just like I dont agree with your words. The FACT remains that this kind and caring member of the public was left feeling bewildered by this whole experience and this should NEVER be the case! I did not condemn anyone as you put it Dave,the FACTS speak for themselves. Is the pigeon to blame for Vicki having her day spoiled or the lack of decency in trying to make her understand the problems faced by this so called fancier? I think NOT and as far as I am concerned it is down to the owner for this whole negative experience for her. FACT...........

[Guest lambrechts31]

IM AFRAID I TOTALLY AGREE WITH PIGEON 359 IN THIS MODERN DAY WHO DOESNT HAVE A MOBILE, ALSO IF YOUR DRIVING 2 HOURS TO COLLECT A BIRD SURELY YOU MUST SWAP PHONE NUMBERS, THEN IF ANYTHING HAPPENS A QUICK CALL SORT,S THING,S, I ALSO WHAT LIKE TO THANK VICKI FOR HER EFFORTS, AND WISH HER ALL THE BEST WITH HER NEW BABY............. :emoticon-0137-clapping:

[Guest lambrechts31]

:pidge:

[Vicki]

Oh dear

 

Maybe I should have been clearer...

 

Arrangements were made for owner to collect Pidge. He said he'd leave Poole around 9am and expect him a couple of hours later. He had my contact details, I only (stupidly) had his landline. His son leaves very nearby, and was visiting him too.

 

I gave the owner directions into Worthing from the main A road, which we are close to. Spent ages on phone directing him in. As we'd spoken a couple of times I had no reason to doubt that he'd be coming. I spoke to him on Friday, made it clear that Pidge was free but in the garden and had been proving difficult to catch. I explained I wasn't up to doing it as due to give birth any day. He said he'd phone Saturday morning to see if we'd managed to contain the bird. This is where my suspicious mind starts questioning, as Saturday came and went with no phonecall so I asked my husband to ring the owner again in the evening to make sure he was coming. Another lengthy phonecall, all the directions confirmed.

 

Lunch time on Sunday, I'm still giving him the benefit of the doubt. Chichester can be an absolute nightmare to get through, so allowing for leaving late and heavy traffic would explain him not being there.

 

The rest of Sunday is on here - by tea time I am really annoyed. Its the only day we haven't had rain so I could've got the children out and about for the day (strangely enough they wanted to go to the local RSPB centre to look at other birds!!)

 

Now I can cut a long story short as the owner has just phoned. Very apologetic - no real reason given still - but appreciative that we've taken time and care with his bird. We've seen Pidge this morning. He has flown from Maidstone so has come a long way. He has previously flown from a town about 3 miles from here, possibly Maidstone too far. Anyhow, the owner would like to stay in touch and will let me know if Pidge makes it home safely.

 

He sounded genuine, and obviously I appreciate him calling today to speak to me and say sorry. I may never know why he didn't come, but I think somehow I don't need to know... So the Pidge saga continues for a while longer

[Guest Owen]

Dave

the problem is that the Finder must have a bad feeling about all this. The Owner might have encountered all sorts of genuine problems but the situation remains the same. The Finder will probably think the worse of Pigeon Fanciers and the Sport in general. My own standpoint is that we can not afford to alienate the Public and we really must try to re-educate people who behave badly towards the Public. It only takes a moment's thought for any normally intelegent person to realise that our relations with the Public is critical.

[Vicki]

Pigeon still here...