Handlers in Taiwan's pigeon racing scene use extreme tactics — kidnapping, ransom, smuggling birds onto high-speed trains, and deliberate starvation — to secure wins. The sport grew from Japanese colonial-era origins into a working-class pastime and now involves roughly 200,000 breeder-trainers across 80 regional clubs, racing up to a million birds annually. Prize pools and investment have turned it into a multimillion-dollar industry, with official season prizes exceeding NTD$30m. The activity occupies a legal grey area, attracting both calls from members for regulation to ensure fair, safe competition and demands from animal-rights groups for an outright ban.
There's almost nothing some handlers won't do to win. Competitors have been kidnapped and then offered up for ransom. Others have reportedly been smuggled on to high-speed trains to get to the finish line first. Some are said to be kept hungry so that they move quicker on race day. This is the fast and furious world of pigeon racing in Taiwan.
Wu Chung-ming is chair of the national pigeon racing body and his local racing association. His desk is adorned with a kitschy pigeon-shaped ashtray, near a computer mining Pigeoncoin cryptocurrency. Parked outside is the Tesla he bought specifically for its gull-winged doors. At first, I wasn't particularly into it, he tells the Guardian. But once I started getting involved, I met all these really passionate people who were crazy about the sport.
Wu is among members calling for regulation to address the shady sides of the sport and make it easier for rule-abiding competitors to compete cleanly and safely. Taiwanese pigeon racing originated during Japanese colonial rule a century ago, later evolving into a pastime among working-class people from outside the cities. Animals rights groups want to see pigeon racing banned while acknowledging it is deeply embedded in Taiwanese society
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