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Young World
Fancy a pigeon, pay tax
COMPILED BY NIMI KURIAN
Pigeon racers are petitioning Queen Elizabeth II to have their activity officially classified as a sport. The Belford Racing Pigeon Club hopes the British monarch, the patron of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, will intervene in a dispute that could see them pay millions of dollars in taxes, said chairman Eric Sim. Racers, known as "pigeon fanciers", house their birds in sheds - buildings the British government now wants to tax, beginning in April. Sports clubs can get
tax relief, but pigeon racing is not classified as a sport, which would leave racers footing a hefty tax bill. Even if it’s not officially classified a sport, "pigeon racing has been recognised as a sport for well over 100 years and this latest turn of events will cause many clubs to struggle to make ends meet," says Sim. "During World War II, owners gave more than a quarter of a million pigeons to our defence forces and they were used most effectively to carry messages from battlefronts and to save lives from sinking ships and downed aircraft," says Geoff O’Connell, local representative.
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