What a ridiculous waste of time and money, I'm sure some of it was Arizona
taxpayer money. A wounded pigeon is not a helpless bird, all pigeons in this
predicament can be helped with a 25 cent shotgun shell and 2 seconds of time.
If a creature with a brain that small could think (and that's a huge "if") I'm
sure it would think "why doesn't one of these caring people just shoot me and
end my suffering". This is flying vermin we're talking about, spreader of all
types of nasty bacteria and virus. Animal planet producers should have thought
long and hard before they showed how good money is spent on bad TV. How far
will this "animal correctness" have to go before people wise up, will we
start to remove mice with broken backs from traps and nurse them till they
die of old age, will we rehydrate drying worms on sidewalks so they can be
released to the wild. Better yet should one of these "heroes" interfere with a
hawk that "wounds" a pidgeon before ripping it apart live and devouring it, that
would seem a pretty horrible way to go. Even if payed for with donations,
this money should be donated to improve the human condition not save one of a billion disease vectors that infest every corner of this world. enough said I could
go on for pages

I am not even going to comment on your lack of respect for all living creatures, but I did want to mention that the Arizona Humane Society is a non-profit organization and not a government run agency so don't worry that your Arizona tax money is going to pigeons. Those of us that love all animals and see that all creatures in need get the help required are the ones donating our time and money.

First off I don't live in Arizona, secondly I respect the fact that this birds primary function in life is to convert plant matter into something a predator or scavenger can use for it's nurishment.
If it was left to die it would have fulfilled this function admirably. You forgot to respond about whether or not the AHS is obligated to rescue injured mice, rats, worms, spiders and any other less "cute" or "lovable" creatures. Ask a native american on a reservation if they want hanta virus carrying mice to be saved by the AHS "heroes". Just because mice carry a dangerous disease why should they be denied special treatment. Will the AHS step in to stop the slaughter of millions of chickens or turkeys when an avian flu epidemic breaks out. Why stop at treating injured pigeons how about a feeding program to ensure that all pigeons receive adequate food and water
Face it, almost everywhere pigeons congregate people are trying to control their populations either through introduction of predators or trapping and poisoning. They deserve nothing more than to eaten by something else, either killed by a predator or scavenged after death.
I think the AHS should stick to domesticated animals and let nature take its course when a wild animal is involved in a accident. By "saving" this bird, an equally deserving scavenger or predator went hungry. I am happy to see that the AHS doesn't rely on taxpayer money but I seriously doubt that if put to a vote of the donating public they would find this a prudent use of their donations. It sickens me to think that this kind of do-gooding, feel-good missguided, out of control organization will remain funded through the foolish who part with their money while charities that feed, clothe and shelter children go without funding. Did you ever notice the donation jars by the cash register, the one for homeless cats and dogs fills up while the one for homeless children remains empty. That's okay with you Lorla isn't it, you probably feel people are a plague on this earth and legitimize your own existance by convincing yourself that you are doing everything possible to mitigate your negative impact on poor cute and cuddly victims of humankind. One more thing, I love animals, they taste yummy, especially broiled or grilled.

Ignore the troll, everybody.

I see when faced with logical questions the animal correct crowd resorts to the standard and time tested name calling and demonization of any and all that disagree. I would like to understand how far down the evolutionary tree of life this humanization of creatures ends. But nobody wants to admit a cutoff point. If somebody brings in a wild rat with rat poison induced bleeding, will it be treated and released. How about a crab missing a claw or a scorpian without a sting. Of course these will grow back but shouldn't it be given refuge until it can defend itself and collect it's own sustenance. Will "animal cops" break in my door if they suspect I haven't cleaned my fish tank often enough. Please inform the public of your goals so they can determine the extent of their support. Animals "suffer" in the wild all the time. Even a vegan causes animal deaths through crop cultivation and harvest. Do the "heroes" lay awake at night fretting over the plight of the cuddly bunnies chewed up by soy bean harvesters. No because it couldn't be turned into "good" TV. It wouldn't create nice sound bites. Just imagine a scene with e-vets brainstorming a way to triage the carnage after combines wreak havoc on millions of acres in Kansas or Oklahoma and then coming to the conclusion that there is "only so much we can do". Better yet how about a "Green Peace" scale effort to prevent farmers from harvesting their fields by ramming the combines with SUV's. These ideas may make dramatic TV stories but in the end the public would see through the veil of TV drama and find the comedy beneath. But the sad truth is, these ideas are logical extensions of the "save every pigeon" mindset these shows and orginizations portray. When did "end animal suffering" turn into "save every cuddly animal that can be turned into good TV".
By the way isn't this forum for discussing ideas, I think discussing ivolves dissenting views, but it seems these dissenters are to be ignored.

Some people prefer human causes over animal ones, some prefer animal causes over human ones, and some contribute money and effort to both types (that's my category). Individual mileage will vary, yawn.

About the pigeon story, tho. I expect that the AHS doesn't normally go to that kind of trouble for a pigeon. That segment struck me as being a nicely done bit of propaganda, and Mr. Bell does enjoy climbing. And I'm not a member of the "pigeons as flying rodents" school, and was pleased to see it saved, cared-for, and released. I think they are beautiful much-maligned creatures. That's probably because I'm 64 and grew up in a household where respect for all living creatures was encouraged. For me, that's just habit.

And about dissenting views. Sure, these places are for discussions, and hopefully discussions can be balanced, fairly rational, and reasonably pleasant.

That can be difficult to do, but it's worth trying even in this case.

Here's one response: views that shelters go out of their way to save all sorts of wildlife on a daily basis are not a reflection on reality, as the focus IS on domestic animals in most except the few rare ones who have set themselves a charge to run wildlife programs as well. Occasional help, sure, but the big programs are rare as hen's teeth in HS's and SPCA's.

Here's another: we humans have to take some historical and present-day responsibility for the suffering and death and extinction of many species of animal, domestic or wildlife, and collectively demonstrate little evidence of this. We're stripping their habitats, illegally poaching supposedly protected species for their hides, horns, you name it, ignoring their plights, and in general again practice the same kind of gun-oriented demagoguery that we have seen here. If it's inconvenient, either kill it or celebrate some predator killing it.

I was under the impression that the environment of this planet was oriented toward "sharing" it with other species, whether by a diety or nature or whatever one wants to call it. As an animal welfare advocate, I've been attacked by the animal rights types, and there is a distinction, for not giving animals sufficient "status" as our "equals". I could do some real "baloney" posts on that one. We can respect other critters without falling over the cliff of considering them our "equals".

So THIS gun-totin' approach to animal welfare, I suppose, is an amusing sidebar here, and I can't help but chuckle at it all. It's just as well that Earth does abide and that our current form of hominid is probably as temporary as the Neanderthal, with whom we still have a lot in common, ahem - perhaps the next version of hominid will have a more developed brain and heart that help it to be more at one with nature, and more understanding of its other creatures.

The dinosaurs sure had it made, our not being around at all, rofl.

Finally someone who admits that the pigeon rescue was a propaganda ploy to generate sympathy. I to was raised to respect animals, on a farm, we had cattle for meat along with chickens for eggs, turkeys for thanksgiving and christmas, a pond full of catfish, dogs and cats as pets. We hunted and fished and didn't kill what we couldn't or wouldn't eat. Pheasants, rabbits, deer and goundhogs thrived and the cultivated fields provided hunting for hawks and foxes. I realize humans have caused extinctions but pigeons are not endangered, by human expansion into the deserts of Arizona we have expanded the habitat for pigeons, they follow human development and probably would not inhabit the deserts if not for the cities which pop up in the middle of them. These birds probably force out native species but also provide food for indigenous raptors and small predators. By saving this pigeon it could be said that a native specie of predator or scavenger was denied a meal which could have fed it's young for a day. The most that was done was to delay the inevitable death of the bird, it might have been snatched out of the air by a hawk the next day and fed to it's young or grabbed by a snake or coyote, it might have been only wounded by one of these predators and escaped to die suffering, but unseen by the squeamish public. It's only when a misinformed member of the animal rights public sees this natural process that extreme measures are taken to save this valuable prey species which has forced out the native prey. The same public which demands to live in this fragile ecosystem piles on the damage by insisting on seeing these natural prey animals saved by any and all means. The time and money spent on this rescue could have fed and sheltered homeless cats and dogs or neglected horses or on the other end of the spectrum, fed a family for weeks.

NOW we're getting down to a sensible and interesting subtopic - "The time and money spent on this rescue could have fed and sheltered homeless cats and dogs or neglected horses or on the other end of the spectrum, fed a family for weeks."

I volunteer with special needs cats for a local shelter's behavior department to help them become or stay adoptable. It's hard work and doesn't always pay off, but the vast majority of "my" cats go out the front door with a carefully screened adopter individual or family. So I know a bit about what goes on in such places.

And I suppose if any place that I worked at made a habit of rescuing lots and lots of pigeons, I'd be pretty torqued. That said, however, wildlife operations in these places are more often than not supported by special funding from donors who want to support wildlife rescue in particular.

As to a species that exists because of humans in the quantity the pigeon does moving in on territory and driving out other native prey animals, sure, that is another way we directly influence changes to non-human species that would be living and dying a whole different ball game were it not for us.

All those folks for generation after generation sittin' in the park feedin' pigeons, which are opportunists of the first order. I'm one of those humans, actually, and still allow myself that sentiment from time to time. It's a species that has become, in a lot of areas, almost entirely dependent on us due to our behavior toward them. And the pigeon-carried diseases that some other brands of squeamish humans shudder away from came from us, their friends and fans.

The problem with our species is that we are infinitely better at creating problems than we are at curing them. Our terminal greed and restlessness forces us down paths we would be wiser to consider carefully before taking them. We're not awfully good at thinking about implications.

With a little more of this kind of talk, I could probably be converted to the notion that their even bothering to film this pigeon rescue, let alone see it aired, was at some level of stupidity.

I'd rather put "my" cats among those pigeons.

But as it is at this point, we saw how the EAMT's are prepared to take on anything, a real demonstration of some well-developed skill sets.

It's just too bad the bird in question was a garden-variety pigeon instead of a rare species bird. THAT would have gotten more enthusiastic support.

So, what you are saying is that one animal life is greater than another animal life. Okay. I get it and respect your right to your opinion.

However, please be advised that the EAMT's respond to bird calls every day. Gosh, even those 'lowly' common 'flying rats' as they were referred to in an earlier post require compassion and care.

Animal welfare, for me, is for the welfare of all animals. Not just cats and dogs as has been implied. Oh and, btw...Any call to which an EAMT is dispatched is handled with professionalism, compassion and caring. Be it a dog, cat, pig, bird, lizard...Well, hopefully by now you get the picture. And, about 98% of the time, guess what? There is not a camera crew present.

Also, in this story situation, the pigeon was in distress due to human contact ... It had fishing line on it ... I think most of us that are educated realize that pigeons as well as many other animals are part of the food chain and a web of life, but this is not part of that cycle.
That pigeon may have been hawk food in it's life due to natural selection, but this situation was caused by human interference. No creature deserves to die hanging upside down in 115 degree heat. That is not survival of the fitest!!
And as for the time "wasted" Guy Bell is an amazing climber so it couldn't have taken him long to rescue and move on to the many other calls he takes that may be deemed more worthy in certain people's opinions.
Animal Planet has thousands of hours of footage to choose from and they obviously like to throw something different in. It's great to see how the EAMT's respond to cat houses and animals hit by car, but it's a nice variety to see other things that they are faced with.

pohdinpa, lets stay to the facts and not express what you think Lorla thinks. I feel you are welcome in your beliefs as well as Lorla is in hers and you should not put words in her mouth.