Efforts to ban pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania have been shot down in past years. This time, the measure doesn't seem to be flying the coop.

Senate Bill 510, which bans live pigeon shoots, is an amendment to House Bill 1750, which prohibits the sale and slaughter of dogs and cats for food.House Bill 1750 moved through the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 10-4 vote; Senate Bill 510 would criminalize organized pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania by amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.As expected, the pro and con sides are sharply divided. Those in favor of the ban, such as Sen. John Wozniak (D-Johnstown) call the shoots a "barbaric practice.""Rest assured I will do all I can to make sure events such as these are banned in Pennsylvania," Wozniak said.Sportsmen's groups, such as the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, view the proposed ban as a "backdoor attempt to ban all hunting, species by species, funded from outside the state by national organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States.""The participants are law-abiding, ethical shooting enthusiasts, hunters and sportsmen who would not tolerate an activity that would constitute cruelty to animals," said Fred Bratchie, Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania."Today it's pigeon hunting, tomorrow it's deer hunting," Bratchie said.Some see it as a steppingstone for a future attack on the game bird raising and hunting preserve industries."While Martz's Gap View Hunting Preserve and Martz's Game Farm do not conduct pigeon shoots as part of our business, we also know this is the first step in the HSUS and other animal rights' groups goal of banning all forms of hunting," said Mike Martz, general partner of Martz's Game Farm and vice president of Martz's Gap View Hunting Preserve in Dalmatia."If this bill passes in its current language, our industry will be next in the cross hairs."Senators Rob Teplitz (D-15, Dauphin, York) and Pat Browne (R-16, Lehigh, Monroe and Northampton counties) co-sponsored Senate Bill 510."The bill (510) would prohibit the use of live animals or fowl for target trap shoots and block shoots," Teplitz said. "In particular, I believe it is time for Pennsylvania to join every other state in banning live pigeon shoots, therefore, I support the ban as an amendment to House Bill 1750."The small town of Hegins was the site of the Hegins Pigeon Shoot, which was held annually over Labor Day weekend for 65 years.The Hegins shoot, which had been held in a public park, was "shut down" in 1998; however, it's been held annually since then on private land.Although the Hegins shoot received national attention due to the crowds of anti-pigeon-shoot demonstrators who attended, similar shoots are held in many areas of the state.Martz said that pigeons spread disease to other birds and fowl, and also that their manure contaminates stored grain and erodes bridge surfaces. When pigeons overpopulate an area, professionals are called in, he said."So I beg the question if pigeon populations need to be controlled and these birds are going to meet their death in some form, why would any reasonable person who is supposedly looking out for the betterment of its citizens want to use taxpayer dollars to control a population, when there are people putting money into an economy when the end result is essentially the same?" Martz asked."Whether you are a hunter or a bird watcher, I believe any reasonable person would come to the same conclusion when looking at the big picture."House Bill 1750 was amended with Senate Bill 510 on June 26. It was reviewed with a first consideration June 26 and a second consideration June 27, and could be voted on by the Senate at any time.House Bill 1750, with the amendment of Senate Bill 510 was voted out of the judiciary committee last month by a 10-4 vote. Senators who voted in favor were Stewart Greenleaf (R-12), Daylin Leach (D-17), John Rafferty (R-44), Richard Alloway (R-33), Dominic Pileggi (R-9), Randy Vulakovich (R-40), Lisa Boscola (D-18), Lawrence Farnese Jr. (D-1), Wayne Fontana (D-42) and Michael Stack (D-5).Senators opposed to the ban were John Scarnatai (R-25), John Eichelberger (R-30), John Gordner (R-27) and Gene Yaw (R-23).