Tired of all the negativity around social media platforms these days? Who could blame you with Russian interference (they recently tried to hack my Facebook account), streamed hate violence, and hours of mindless TikTok videos?
However, social media helped me do something that before its invention would not have been possible. Facebook helped me rescue a racing pigeon.
Eloise (our name) entered our lives during the chaos of prepping for my daughter’s graduation party. A day earlier, we had seen our cat trying to “make friends” with her, and we thought we swooshed her away out of our fenced in pool area. Doves always visit our garden, and they flee once they learn a cat patrols the area. At the time we didn’t realize Eloise had a red band on her leg which designated her as a racing homing pigeon.
A day later Eloise resurfaced thanks to her penchant for sunflower seeds in our feeder. Not wanting Mittens the warrior cat princess to claim her, we put her into the cat carrier and read the letters on her band. A couple of hours of Google and Facebook later, I learned the cruelties of this “sport.” Most homing pigeon racers don’t make it back home. They die of exhaustion, animal attacks, etc. If they do manage to make it back home, but are not winners, they are killed. Ugh.
I called our town’s animal control looking for answers, but there was no answer because it was a weekend. So I thought…I’ll try Facebook. After a few minutes of searching, I found a Facebook group called Palomacy Pigeon and Dove Adoptions. Within an hour, a local woman with a wildlife rehabilitation license had contacted me, and she took Eloise that night to start her rehab.
Sadly for Eloise, she can never fly free again because her homing beacon would send her to her death. But she can live carefreely in an aviary in the hands of a devoted adopter.
I’ve been pretty depressed reading the numerous “evil tech” stories, but this gave me hope that online tools in the hands of kind people with noble intentions do have a great place.
Want more proof of social media in action?
Read this story of how 12-year-old Ella Casano invented a teddy bear cover for IVs, and consider making a donation! She’s raised nearly $20,000 on her GoFundMe page.