If anyone knows how to train animals it is Bobby Pollock, pigeon guy of Muldrow. He and his family run and operate Pet Partners in Muldrow and he runs the River Valley Roundup one loft race.
Pet Partners is a boarding, training and grooming kennel that offers 24-hour care because they live on the premise. They have been serving the community about 20 years. Adding to his resume of animal training, he also raises and trains racing pigeons on the same site.
Pollock said that most kids who get involved with pigeons do so by going into barns and getting baby pigeons, taking them home and caring for them. As a child, he said he had climbed bridges and barns to get his baby pigeons.
“It started when I was a child and then I got back into it when I crossed paths with an old friend that used to fly pigeons and he was back into pigeons again,” he said. “This would’ve been around 2000, and so I got back into it and I never looked back.”
Pollock said racing pigeon is a great hobby for the retired and especially children.
“It’s something you can do in your backyard, and it’s a good family sport,” he said. “It’s good for kids because they learn responsibility and affection towards animals, and how to take care of animals.”
There are several different ways to race pigeons but Pollock runs a one loft race which is where birds are sent to him for training and come race time he transports the birds to a location for a certain number of miles, tosses them and times how long it takes them to return home.
“Birds are sent from all over. They can be sent from anywhere in the world. I have birds that come from as far away as Hawaii, and they send their birds here when they’re babies,” he said. “They grow up, this is their home. Those birds grow up, they’re all medicated the same, all fed the same, all trained the same, and they all come home to one location. The birds come back to wherever they live.”
Pollock said that with a one loft race the race is fair because the birds come to one location, are raised, lived and trained at this one location. He takes his training and raising of the birds very seriously and knows precisely the lineage of his personal birds.
“That’s the excitement for me, to see birds that I’ve been creating all these years and they’re still winning,” he said.
Pollock conducts his race in the fall or early winter and contestants will race for thousands of dollars in prizes.
He wants to share the birds with anyone interested and said he will give away birds to those who are interested in racing, or just want them as pets.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
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