Warrnambool Racing Pigeon Club proceeds with 100th anniversary race despite bird flu concerns

One hundred and fifty pigeons from Warrnambool will be released 320 kilometres away from home to race across the state this weekend, despite mass suspected bird flu deaths in Victoria's south-west.

The Warrnambool Racing Pigeon Club is determined to go ahead with the race this Sunday, which marks the club's 100th anniversary, and is a fundraiser for the Warrnambool Base Hospital.

The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) says the race is exempt from housing restrictions that have been placed on the poultry industry.

But a wildlife organisation has expressed concern the race could spread the disease to northern Victoria.

Exempt from restrictions

Sunday's race will start in Lascelles, a town in the Wimmera, a region where H5 bird flu has not yet been detected.

It's a different story on Victoria's south-west coast, where hundreds of dead birds have been found this month, suspected to have died from the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

Warrnambool Pigeon Racing Club vice president Kevin Ashworth said he did not believe there was any risk of the race spreading the disease.

"We don't think on it, we just get on with what we're allowed to do, and that's it," Mr Ashworth said.

Pigeons are believed to be more resistant than most species to bird flu, but the advice from DEECA states they can still catch the disease.

In an email seen by the ABC, DEECA's chief veterinary officer said pigeon racing was allowed to continue, even in coastal areas where strict poultry housing restrictions were in place.

Risk of spreading disease

David Mould, from environmental advocacy group Victorian Wildlife Alliance, said the bird flu outbreaks in Victoria's south-west were too extreme to take risks.

"I think it's irresponsible of the club. I think it's irresponsible of the government," Mr Mould said.

He said there was a difference between pigeons having a lower risk and no risk.

"We're talking a lower risk, and it is true that pigeons have been classed as being of lower risk," he said.

"[But] I just don't understand why we would bother taking even small risks for completely frivolous and even cruel activities like pigeon racing."

Mr Mould has been a wildlife rescuer for 20 years, and said finding lost, injured or disregarded racing pigeons was common.

"Pigeon racing clubs have a long history of abandoning birds — every race that's run, some of those birds will not make it home," he said.

"This is a recipe for spreading the disease as far and wide as you possibly can."

Since the H5N1 strain reached Victoria, DEECA has mandated that poultry owners with more than 50 birds in the southern half of the state must keep them contained.

The Warrnambool Racing Pigeon Club said its members contained their birds when they were not racing or training, but Mr Mould said he believed there was no guarantee the pigeons had not still contracted the disease.

"Unless they're keeping those birds inside their own homes, then wild birds are out there," he said.

"The [wild birds] are visiting and picking up on scattered seed, or mice will be going into aviaries where they can potentially spread the disease."

Determined to go ahead

The racing pigeons are supposed to fly straight home from their starting point in Lascelles, a town in the Wimmera, without stopping.

Mr Ashworth said that, when racing, the pigeons were not likely to mingle with wild birds, but some birds might never return home.

"The birds have their own free will," he said.

"So, you hope they will get home, but it's up to the bird."

He said racing pigeons were kept in a secure loft at home except when racing or training, but he could not guarantee they had not been exposed to wild birds or droppings in the backyard.

"How can you stop a magpie flying over a domestic garden? You can't … that makes it scaremongering," he said.

The race is raising money for prostate cancer testing equipment at the Warrnambool Base Hospital.

Mr Ashworth said the race was a special birthday celebration for the club and he was grateful it was not cancelled.

"100 years, it's a big milestone," he said.

"It would have been a big shame to the whole of our community here in Warrnambool [if it was cancelled].

"[But] with the restriction being lifted, it's fantastic."