Pigeons wearing MAGA hats fly through Las Vegas

A group calling itself P.U.T.I.N. which stands for Pigeons United To Interfere Now has claimed ownership for the pro-Trump publicity stunt. They glued MAGA hats onto the heads of pigeons and then released them to fly about the city. One of the pigeons was even adorned with a Trump style wig according to NBC News.

February 21, 2020

“P.U.T.I.N. have used their pigeons to launch a one-of-a-kind aerial protest piece in response to the arrival of the 2020 Democratic Presidential hopefuls,” according to a group statement. “The release date was also coordinated to serve as a gesture of support and loyalty to President Trump.”

A total of twenty-five pigeons were released, 24 of them wearing hats and one donning the wig according to P.U.T.I.N. “Most have returned. We expect to see the rest tonight or tomorrow,” the group said.

While many have found the stunt humourous, Mariah Hillman, who runs a Las Vegas pigeon rescue organization, called the MAGA stunt “animal cruelty.”

This isn’t the first time Las Vegas has seen pigeons dressed up, videos of three pigeons wearing miniature red cowboy hats went viral back in December 2019.

“It started here with the press making fun of it, the police didn’t do anything about it, and now it’s grown into this, so when is it going to stop, and who’s going to do something about it?” Hillman said.

Hillman and her volunteers are setting traps to hopefully retrieve the pigeons so they can remove their hats before rehabilitating and releasing the birds.

P.U.T.I.N used eyelash glue to secure the hats to the pigeons’ heads.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of glue it is. It is still, in fact, cruelty, because you are impairing their vision,” Hillman said, adding that her organization rescues many birds, such as wedding-release pigeons and racing pigeons, that are trained to return to their flocks.

“There’s not always a guarantee that they’ll return, because they can get injured or killed before that happens.”