Ferals Rule

[Reti]

Victoria,
I m so sorry for what you are going through.
I hope you can make the pastor undestand that Sweety is not releasable in her condition (with the leg), beside she is too tame to be ever released.
If you could take her to the vet and have a health ckeck and have her vaccinated, maybe he would change his mind.

I don't know the law in Michigan, hope somebody on this forum does.
Anyway, I will try to do a check.

We all go through rough times because of our pigeons, because many people are just so ignorant.

Reti

[Sweetie]

Dear Reti and Arty:

As I came across a document that is called "Experimental Infection of North American Birds with the New Youk 1999 Strain of West Nile Virus. All of the birds that had perished
during this time they are the heroes and heroines of our time because of all the cruelty that they had to go through and had been even the surviving birds were euthanized. Now let me tell you what I learned. The Mourning Doves were found in the wild, but the Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons) were found commercially.

Now let me write what is says toward the end of the document.

Development of Neutralizing Antibodies

We expected all infected birds to generate a humoral immune response to WNV, with development of virus-neutralizing antibodies. Thus, the two Budgerigars that did not produce detectable antibodies (assayed at 14 dpi) were thought to have avoided infectoin. However, one of these parakeets hobored a persistent infection in heart tissue, indicating that infection died occur. This same bird had detectable viremia only at 1 dpi. Whith one species, Rock Doves, we followed the immune response through 9 weeks postinfection. All six Rock Doves generated a neutralizing immune response that persisted throughout the monitoring period. An early rise-fall-rise pattern in the neutralizing antibody response (Figure 3) is probably explained by the early, ephemeral contribution of immunoglobulin (Ig) M to virus neutralization, followed by a rise in neutralizing IgY. The Rock Dove (or domestic pigeon) is considered a candidate sentinel for monitoring WNV transmission in the United States (29). Our results indicate that Rock Doves have a strong immune response after a brief, low-level (noninfectious) viremia, both important criteria for candidate sentinels.

These poor birds! The pigeons especially, people are ignorrant. But one of these days, they may be lying in a hospital bed close to death and and a pigeon will lose its life because they may use the antibodies of that pigeon to make serum to combat the virus that they have to help them survive. They better wake up and appreciate these birds more. Because one day their own lives will be saved by a pigeon, the bird that is a symbol of Love and Peace.

Victoria Lutes & Sweetie.