It could have very easily been an international incident with Australia’s great ally, the United States. An American citizen tries to illegally enter Australia, creating a biosecurity risk in a time of global pandemic that ripples all way to the door of the Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
After the Johnny Depp illegal puppy visitor episode a few years back, we are, of course, right to be vigilante.
Let us pray that this latest incident does not a year make, otherwise 2021 is going down the rabbit hole of surrealism.
Declared traveller (Sanjiv Nayak/Unsplash)
It began on Boxing Day in an unassuming suburb of Melbourne. A bird flew onto the property of one Kevin Celli-Bird in Officer. The bird was thought to be a racing pigeon with a leg band indicating it was from the United States. Kevin called it Joe, after President-elect Joe Biden.
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A tagged racing pigeon is pictured in September 2019 in Belgium. The American-style racing band around Joe’s leg appeared to be a knock-off available online and often used by local owners. AFP
Fake tag claim offers pigeon a death row reprieve
Sun, 17 January 2021
A racing pigeon detained by Australian authorities and set to be destroyed over concerns it was an American intruder received a lifeline on December 15, when experts revealed its leg tag was probably fake.
Originally thought to have flown from Alabama to a backyard in Melbourne – an epic journey of 14,500km – “Joe” the racing pigeon made headlines around the world.