Several months ago, I was working at the clinic and an animal control officer brought in a domestic white pigeon that he picked up in our county. The pigeon was begging for food in someone's driveway. On arrival to the clinic, this pigeon was emaciated-nothing but skin on bones. We offered him food and he devoured it. Because of our bird expertise, the pigeon was relinquished to us at The Center For Avian Welfare so that we could find this bird the perfect home. Sadly, he (or she) did not have a good start in life. He was bred to be a Roller Pigeon in Alabama and is 7 years old (we know this from his leg band). Rollers are birds that are used in competitions, and when they fly, they do somersaults and fall from the sky. This is not fun for these birds. It is traumatizing for them to be unable to fly in a straight line, and almost fall to their deaths. But those days of fear are over for this guy. We fattened him up and he became very robust with a gorgeous chest, and then we started our search for the perfect home. Since all birds are very social animals, a requirement was that the home had to have at least one other pigeon and they had to have an aviary. It took us several months to find a place that met our requirements. We found a bird sanctuary called Sky Watch in North Carolina that has a pigeon aviary. How perfect! He would have friends and could find a mate. And today was the day when he was finally going to his new home. I drove him halfway and a Sky Watch volunteer met me off the side of the highway. Unfortunately I was not able to drive him all the way there to see him make new friends, but they are sending us a video later today. This is him on his road trip. Isn't he a beauty! We wish this sweet soul a wonderful life filled with companionship, flight, kind people, and fresh air. Enjoy yourself little man. It was great to have met you, and I am sad to see you go. But I wanted what was best for you, and it is now time for you to start enjoying and living life on your terms. You will be greatly missed.