I am not a big fan of pigeons; they seem to think the world is their loo. But some people think otherwise, which justifies the record £209,000 ($329,000) sale of a Dutch pigeon on the internet. Pieter Veenstra sold 245 pigeons under the hammer through the Belgian website Pigeon Paradise, or PIPA, for well over £1.6 million ($2.52 million), including the Dolce Vita hen. The lucky buyer is Hu Zhen Yu, a shipping magnate from China to breed it for pigeon racing that seems to be a new rage in the country.
Pigeon racing is a cult sport in nations like Britain, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, but the rich crowd does not ideally fancy the sport. The purchase has sparked debates of sorts in the world. Terence Wright, from Enniscorthy in Ireland, says, “Is it so good to see all these top European birds go to China, to see the best stock leave our shores and to know that soon all our best pigeon’s bloodlines will be no longer available to the fanciers of Europe?”
[Telegraph]