Spokesman for Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma says ‘this is a long-standing shooting sport’ but rights group criticises event, where shooters aim at live, not clay, pigeons, as a ‘slaughter-fest’

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This article is more than 5 years old

A national animal rights group says it’s outraged at US senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma for participating in a live pigeon shoot at a September fundraising event.

The group Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (Shark) said it was tipped off by a letter from an anonymous Inhofe supporter who was “appalled” by the senator’s fundraiser. The Illinois-based group decided bought a ticket and sent an undercover investigator to film the event on 5 September and released that footage on Tuesday.

“This was not food gathering. This was not pest control. This wasn’t even competition. This was just a slaughter-fest,” said the group’s founder and president, Steve Hindi.

Mike McCarville (@McCarvilleRept) Inhofe Dove Hunt Scheduled September 5: Oklahoma Energy Today Oklahoma U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe’s preparing to ... http://t.co/T7yv3KVs03

The group’s investigator, who Hindi said they are not naming for privacy reasons, watched the Republican senator and his son take part in the event. Inhofe campaign spokesman Rusty Appleton later confirmed Inhofe’s participation to the Associated Press.



“Senator Inhofe agrees with the [National Rifle Association] that this is a long-standing traditional shooting sport,” Appleton told the AP.

The annual event, apparently in its 10th year, according to the invitation, featured an “old world” pigeon shoot on Friday afternoon at the Quartz Mountain Lodge in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma.

The video shows workers flinging birds into the air as shooters take aim. A round of shots rings out and some birds fall from the sky, while a live mariachi band serenades guests in the background. A man the group identifies as Inhofe can be seen shooting at the pigeons tossed into the sky.

Photo captioned by user @ sanuzis: “Senator Inhofe’s Dove Hunt fundraiser... not PETA sponsored.”

Some of the pigeons appear to have bands around their ankles, which Hindi said indicates that they are not wild birds, but rather raised and then abandoned.



A spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s told the Associated Press that live pigeon shoots, while not common, are legal in Oklahoma on private property.

“Pigeons are one of the animals that are not really protected by federal law since they’re non-migratory,” captain Tony Woodruff told the AP. “We’re pretty liberal on our laws. We let people do quite a bit here.”

Captioned: “With Congressman Mullin at Senator Inhofe’s Dove Hunt.”

Hindi, a Republican who lives in Illinois, said he did not have a political agenda, but called Inhofe’s participation in the event is a disturbing indicator of his character.

A phone call and email to campaign consultant Amy Bradley was not returned.



Once a “gentleman’s pastime”, pigeon shoots are now banned in a handful of states. Shoots, however, still exist in some states, notably in Pennsylvania where they’re typically held at invitation-only events hosted by private gun clubs, according to the Humane Society for the United States. Shark actively opposes Pennsylvania’s shoots, and strongly supports legislation to ban the practice.

