Cowered by the perceived power of the NRA, which has about one-third the membership of the Humane Society--and only 200,000 members in Pennsylvania against 670,000 Pennsylvanians in the Humane Society--House and Senate leaders of both parties, primarily from the rural areas, continuously blocked bills from getting out of Committee and onto the floor for a vote.
In the 21 years since she first began protesting pigeon shoots, Prescott has been cursed, shoved, poked, hit, slammed against a car, and had boot-clad spectators deliberately step upon her sneakered feet. A pacifist, she never resisted. But the greatest wounds, she says, were the lies she was told by legislators who promised what they would never deliver--a vote to ban pigeon shoots. "Their lies and distortions caused a waste of resources and time, and led to thousands more animals who suffered cruel deaths each year," says Prescott.
"It's time for the Pennsylvania legislature to stop playing politics," she says. Shortly after the House reconvenes on Sept. 13, Prescott hopes she will shed yet another tear, this time one of joy, as a majority of the House and Senate develop a spine and resist the prattling of a minority of self-proclaimed "sportsmen" and of national organizations that help fund their campaigns, and do what's right, what every other state has done--stop the cruelty of pigeon shoots. "The only place this bill seems to be controversial is within the walls of the Capitol," says Prescott.
"I know how close we are, and if we give up now," she says, "we will never fully appreciate the strength and courage of the animals that lay dying in my hands because of the cruelty of mankind. It's an image of life I can not live with, and giving up now is unthinkable."
[Walter Brasch is an award-winning syndicated columnist and author of 17 books. He first reported on pigeon shoots in 1990, and has covered them and the Pennsylvania legislature since.]
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