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Royal Pigeon Racing Association

On the 3rd November I attended a stakeholder meeting with Defra in which they informed me that from the 7th November a new directive for all bird keepers would be in force. Schedule 5 of that directive specifically relates to racing pigeons under the nationwide Avian Influenza Protection Zone mandatory housing order.
A keeper of racing pigeons may:
Temporarily let their birds out briefly before feeding each day to meet bird’s welfare requirements for up to an hour. Lofts must not be left open for several hours for the birds to come and go as they please. Contact between the racing pigeons, either directly or indirectly with wild birds must be minimised wherever possible.
Pigeons from the same loft may also be transported to a point some distance from the home loft and released/liberated and allowed to return to the loft as part of a training and conditioning programme. The vehicle and baskets must be cleansed and disinfected using a government approved disinfectant.

Provided the gathering is registered with APHA and the conditions of the General Licence are complied with, pigeon racing and multi-loft training are permitted whilst the AIPZ is in force. Birds may be basketed, marked and transported to a liberation site and released to fly back to their home loft. The transporter and baskets must be cleansed and disinfected using a government approved disinfectant.
Pigeons, doves and other Columbiformes may be transported to another location and released to fly free at functions and events provided the birds are either gathered again and returned to their home premises as soon as practical or they fly to return to their home premises. Care should be taken to avoid locations where there are large numbers of wild birds or domestic poultry. Events where birds from more than one premises are present is a bird gathering and must be registered with APHA and meet the conditions of the general licence for bird gatherings

Movement of pigeons into and out of the 3km Protection Zones and 10km Surveillance Zones are still subject to a general licence application. You can apply for licences for some low-risk movements from any Protection Zone or Surveillance Zones currently in force.
Licences for the movement within or from the Captive Bird Monitoring Controlled Zones currently in force are not required.
Specific licences
Specific licences cover a movement or activity in a disease control zone when not covered by a general licence. A specific licence will normally allow a one-off movement and will be subject to strict conditions based on disease control risk. To apply for a specific licence, use the Avian Influenza Licensing Service (AILS) https://www.gov.uk/.../apply-for-an-exemption-from-avian... to submit your application online.
Chris Sutton
CEO
Royal Pigeon Racing Association