Note:  It is a customary practice of competitive pigeon racers like Souza to kill lost birds they retrieve after being found and reported by concerned people.  The hapless bird may be the result of "basket culling" in the first place, which means that birds are carelessly released far from home and any who don't make it back to their family and friends (in essence, abandoned) are deemed not worthy of keeping, anyway.

A tactic to build and maintain a false public image by the competitive pigeon racing community is to assure finders that lost birds are welcome back home, even though they will actually be killed -- if not immediately, most likely in the very near future because their failure to return home proved to their owner that they are no longer worthy of being alive.

With humans it is less cut-and-dry... if we find one who does not perform as desired, we usually simply put up with him. If he is found to be genetically lacking, to the point of being destructive within the rest of the group, we cull/kill him as well. ...

As for me, I'll stick to seeking a higher standard. I will continue to cull/kill those that I can that are outside of the desired goal. If one seems to be within acceptable limits, I will watch closely to see if he really is worth keeping, or if instead, he should be terminated for the good of the species.

God put on this earth for us, WE are the dominant species, and we are not to be subject to the other, lesser animals ...to maintain ...a static 100 birds... 100% of the rest, or about 90% of what is bred, will either die, or be eliminated. If they don't die due to health problems, or from race hazards (wire strikes, hunters, hawks, bad weather, radio waves, or actually getting lost), then they will have to be culled in the loft.

If we sent the race horse into the same conditions (drove it to point A, and said, "I'll see you at home, good luck", and it had ... to find it's own way home across country... we'd see the same kind of loses with horses.

... some birds are genetically inferior (or just stupid), and just don't manage to complete their training (they get lost, they follow some other bird home instead, or they decide to land in the back yard of a cat owner...).

again... Please don't confuse those who breed and race / show pigeons with the "pet owners" who have a few because they love them as family members. Just as doctors and cops cannot do their job effectively if they get emotionally attached to those they work with... neither can animal breeders and sportsmen.

We do not ... get too sentimental when it comes to putting a priority on the betterment of the species.

And actually, both personally and professionally, I am completely anal, I have to be, or the attention to detail would slip right through the cracks.

...We all are entitled to know who and what we are dealing with. If we have radical elements here, who go 'postal' at the mention of selective culling, we all have the right to know, rather than have there be a closet animal rightist in our midst.