25 People Arrested in Protest Against Live Pigeon Shoot

Three state troopers were injured and 25 people were arrested during an annual live pigeon shoot Monday after protesters rushed onto a field and tried to free the caged birds.

Several fistfights broke out, a skunk was thrown at demonstrators and one protester kicked out the windshield of a car before state police stopped the protest at the 57th Fred Coleman Memorial Shoot in Hegins.

Participants pay to shoot birds released from cages, and the proceeds are used to maintain a park in this small east-central Pennsylvania town. Fourteen people with fake blood dripping from their mouths ran onto the field at different times to free the animals. Spectators chanted “Shoot!” as state policemen tried to handcuff the demonstrators.

The 14 people who rushed the field were charged with criminal trespass. An additional 11 demonstrators were charged with disorderly conduct. The officers suffered only minor injuries.

An estimated 4,800 birds were killed Monday, organizers of the shoot said.