普左傑實習心得03： 閱讀賽鴿資料感想

 閱讀賽鴿資料感想 

  日期：2024年9月16日 

作者：普左傑 Isaac Platt Zolov

賽鴿是一個鴿子飛行速度的賽事。本來是歐洲特典文化，後來傳到亞洲。長期，台灣的「賽鴿」造成很多問題。賽鴿讓數百萬隻鴿子死於海上，而政府卻沒制定新法律和政策來阻止。在過去12年以來，國際動保團體與台灣動物保護行政監督聯盟和其他動保團體舉辦不同活動、發布不同文章為了反對海上賽鴿。

我來台灣之前從來沒聽過「 賽鴿」，所以何宗勳秘書長（HO,Tsung-hsun）給我介紹的時候真不知道賽鴿是什麼！我沒有發現「pigeon」的中文翻譯是「鴿子」，而且不明白賽鴿是如何進行的。雖然賽鴿源自歐洲後傳入亞洲，最近也不流行，尤其是在我住的紐約。在有的美國郊區的賭場旁邊有賽馬場（跟香港的賽馬一模一樣）。在賽馬比賽中，人們投下了很多錢，但他們對待馬匹並不好，所以當我了解賽鴿運動時，我覺得這聽起來很相似。但我了解的越多，我就越了解賽鴿運動的危險性。

我了解到，在台灣，人們在賽鴿比賽上每年投注上百億賭金，然後他們所投注的鴿子幾乎全部死掉。這不僅是保護動物的問題，也是賭博危害的問題。

當善待動物組織（PETA）等較大的國際組織試圖透過調查揭露、製作公益廣告和廣告來宣傳賽鴿的危險時，政府拒絕讓他們在桃園機場等大型公共場所張貼廣告。

十二年來，台灣動物保護組織一直在關注與反對海上賽鴿運動。儘管賽鴿運動的統計數據很危險，但有一段時間政府幾乎沒有回應。

最近，動保團體透過跟總統建言、發動公投，讓更多人知道海上賽鴿運動危險性與殘忍，這讓越來越多的人認識到與之奮鬥的重要性。最後，台灣中選會將於9月24日舉行禁止海上賽鴿聽證會。來決定是否通過這個公投提案。

Learning About the Dangers of Pigeon Racing

Pigeon racing is an event where people bet on the speed of pigeons completing a course. It originated in Europe and later spread to Asia. Recently, "racing pigeons" in Taiwan have caused a lot of problems, as dangerous conditions have caused millions of pigeon deaths, yet the government has not enacted new laws and policies. Throughout the past 12 years, the Taiwan Animal Protection Monitor Network and other animal protection groups have organized different activities and published different articles to oppose racing pigeons.

I had never heard of "racing pigeons" before coming to Taiwan, let alone knew how to say it in Mandarin, so when Secretary-General Ho Tsung-hsun introduced it to me, I had no idea what he was talking about! Although pigeon racing originated from the west and was then introduced to Asia, the activity is rarely seen in the US, especially in New York where I live. So, the more I learned, the more I understood the dangers of pigeon racing.

I learned that in Taiwan, pigeon racing is an issue that relates not only to animal protection, but also to the dangers of gambling. Over the years, both millions of dollars have been spent on the activity, alongside millions of pigeons being killed. 

Taiwanese animal protection groups have been campaigning against pigeon racing for over twelve years. Despite the dangerous statistics of pigeon racing, for a while there was little response from the government. When larger international organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) tried to promote the dangers of racing pigeons by producing public service announcements and advertisements, the government refused to allow them to post advertisements in large public places, such as Taoyuan Airport. Recently, there has been an increase in investigations into the dangers of pigeon racing, which has made more and more people aware of the importance of fighting against it. Most recently, the Taiwan Central Election Commission announced that they will hold a hearing on banning pigeons on September 24th, which I am very excited to attend.