‘No dove lost’ is the new plea for weddings

RELEASING a basket of beautiful white doves symbolises the love, peace and permanence of a couple’s union and their heartfelt wedding vows — but the picturesque ritual has a secret underbelly of exploitation and cruelty. Because, once released in a spectacular cloud of white feathers, some of these birds don’t, as expected, fly straight back to their owners.

They can’t. They don’t know how. They haven’t been trained to ‘home’ — and anyway, they don’t have owners.

Instead these unfortunate birds, believed to be bought from dealers for as little as €10 each, will simply hang around pecking at the ground, easy prey for lurking predators such as foxes or hawks.