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| Updated: 5/05/2012 12:05 pm |
Published: 5/04/2012 9:26 pm |
Historically speaking, pigeons have been known to deliver messages. This week though, a letter about pigeons landed on Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland's desk.
"Right now all we have is a two page letter with allegations that aren't substantiated," explained Hiland.
The letter comes from Jeffrey Kerr, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' general counsel. It alleges that several organizations drove pigeons from Oklahoma to Conway, where the pigeons were released and left to fly back to Oklahoma on their own.
Here's where Hiland comes in: PETA's letter says the pigeon owners bet big money, hundreds of thousands of dollars, on which pigeon would make it back to Oklahoma first. Now PETA wants a Faulkner County gambling investigation.
"The information in the letter," said Hiland, "even if all of that was true, there's no information there that would suggest the organizations involved have run afoul of the law."
Hiland says that's because the wagers are alleged to have been made in Oklahoma, not Conway. Furthermore, there's nothing illegal about racing pigeons. With that being said though, Hiland promises to remain open-minded, after all, he doesn't want to ruffle any feathers.
"If we got more information, you know maybe an investigation will take flight, I don't know."
PETA General Counsel Jeff Kerr says he believes it is a crime in Arkansas to facilitate a crime in another jurisdiction, in this case illegal gambling in Oklahoma.
He cites Ark. Code 5-1-104 (a)(4) which reads, "a person may be convicted under a law of this state of an offense committed by his or her own or another person's conduct for which he or she is legally accountable if: ... conduct occurring within this state establishes complicity in the commission of, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit, an offense in another jurisdiction that is also an offense under the law of this state."
Kerr says it's possible that illegal gambling not only took place in Oklahoma, but Arkansas as well. He hopes authorities will conduct an investigation to determine whether that's true.
