MELBOURNE, Australia – The carrier pigeon appeared to have traveled far from Oregon when it appeared weak and hungry in a backyard in a Melbourne suburb.
Someone decided to call him Joe, in honor of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.
But Australian officials, fearing the spread of germs from a foreign bird, have not broken the rules: the bird must die.
The story of the bird that allegedly traveled more than eight thousand miles only to end on death row in Australia caused a stir on the internet.
It all started when a construction inspector named Kevin Celli-Bird (unrelated) said he found Joe on December 26 after he flew into his backyard in Officer, a quiet suburb in southeastern Melbourne, with a band hanging from one leg.
“When it landed, it was very weak and in a emaciated state,” said Celli-Bird in an interview on Friday. He fed the pigeon to bring it back to health.
Driven by curiosity about his origins, he researched the bird’s leg band numbers online. He said they corresponded to those of a bird in an Oregon pigeon race that began on October 29. He discovered that a male bird had disappeared.
Celli-Bird said he consulted the American Pigeon Racing Union, which said the bird was registered to someone in Alabama. With this information in hand, he and some friends thought it made sense to name the pigeon after a remarkable American figure.
“We were sitting, laughing, throwing names,” he said. “We thought, ‘Well, Joe is the new president; we will give it that name. ‘”
They considered “Donald”, said Celli-Bird, but “we think that maybe it was not politically correct with what is happening”.
The international media reported the strange story of a bird named Joe, and the Internet was amazed by his apparent journey. Authorities said they believed he probably took a ride on a cargo ship.
Brad Turner, secretary of the Australian National Pigeon Association, told the Associated Press that he heard of cases of Chinese carrier pigeons arriving on the Australian west coast on cargo ships, a relatively short trip.
Mr. Celli-Bird found it a little fun, but the Australian authorities had a different view. The Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment said that Joe “posed a direct biosafety risk to the lives of Australian birds and our poultry industry.” The intention was to apply it to euthanasia, local media reported on Thursday.
Australia has notoriously strict biosafety laws. In 2015, Barnaby Joyce, then Minister of Agriculture, threatened to sacrifice the two Yorkshire terriers of actor Johnny Depp, Pistol and Boo, because they had not been declared at customs when they arrived in Queensland on a private jet. Fortunately, arrangements were made for the two dogs to be taken back to the United States. Amber Heard, then Depp’s wife, later pleaded guilty in a Queensland court for providing false information on her passenger card after she and the dogs landed on the Gold Coast to visit the actor. The couple apologized.
Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack showed no mercy on Friday over the subject of pigeons at a press conference, saying: “If Joe came in a way that did not comply with the strict biosafety measures, then bad luck, Joe. Fly home or face the consequences. “
Given the prospect of Joe’s death, Mr. Celli-Bird reconsidered the name he had given the bird. “Last night, I thought that maybe we should call him Donald,” he said. “Perhaps we could have obtained a presidential pardon or diplomatic immunity.”
But on Friday morning, information suddenly appeared that seemed to give the bird relief: Joe may not be an American pigeon after all.
A local pigeon rescue group said on Facebook that it saw many local birds wearing the same type of bandage found on Joe’s leg. “We believe he is not an American pigeon – but an Australian pigeon wearing an imitation American ring that anyone could buy on eBay,” said the organization.
An American Racing Pigeon Union spokeswoman also said that Joe’s band was probably a fake and that he was probably an Australian pigeon, according to The Associated Press.
The agriculture department said it was “investigating the authenticity of the US identification tag.”
Mr. Celli-Bird said he was eager to discover the bird’s true origin “for everyone’s peace of mind”. He stressed that he had no intention of deceiving anyone.
In the face of mounting evidence, on Friday night, the Department of Agriculture announced in a statement that it had “concluded that Joe the Pigeon is very likely to be Australian.” The department said it was “pleased that the bird’s leg band is a fraudulent copy of a legitimate leg band”.
As such, I was free to continue living in Mr. Celli-Bird’s yard.
It is also unclear whether the bird will be able to keep its new name and whether it will finally return home. Earlier on Friday, Mr. Celli-Bird said: “If he decides to leave, he can; if it stays, we will continue to feed it. “