Raid Underscores Belgium’s Pigeon-Doping Fears

A nationwide police raid has fueled deep suspicions in Belgium, the world’s center for pigeon racing, that some trainers may be doping the birds to fly faster and farther.

Police raided 80 homes of breeders and feed and medicine suppliers throughout Belgium, confiscating large quantities of suspicious products, prosecutor Louis Denecker said Wednesday.

Denecker wouldn’t give details on the substances, but he said Tuesday’s raid followed tests that uncovered traces in racing birds of what could be banned chemicals.

The raids could show the scope of the doping problem after years of rumors that some breeders in the highly competitive sport give their prize pigeons more than simply the best feed money can buy.

“There is still this nostalgia for the magical potion,” said Jean-Louis Jorissen, head of the World Pigeon Center, which breeds and trains racing pigeons sold around the globe. He praised the raids, saying some feed distributors do a side business selling hormones and cortisone to make the birds stronger. “We have to get rid of them,” he said.

Belgians are the world’s unrivaled pigeon racers, with 60,000 breeders in this nation of 10 million people, many of them passing their secrets from generation to generation.

The pastime requires passion, because the birds must be nurtured and trained from morning till night, season after season--and that, in part, fuels jealousy and temptation to win at any cost. The most fancied birds can cost more than $25,000, and winning one of the classic races can earn similar amounts.

Doping is not the first scandal to tarnish the sport.

When one breeder won race after race a decade ago, it turned out that he had found a way to fix the race clock. He was slapped with a long suspension.

Last year, the theft of 36 of the finest birds from one of the country’s best performers and the destruction of a slew of eggs holding the next generation of potential champions caused outrage.

All this is bad news for a sport that has seen membership decline fourfold in half a century.

As with doping in professional sports, effective controls are tough. Pigeons can be fed many banned substances that leave no trace in their bodies on race day.

The problem is not limited to Belgium. The Netherlands’ environmental secretary promised criminal prosecution earlier this year after warning that some breeders there have resorted to doping.