Who are Little Green Pigeon?
We are a Community Interest Company (a not for profit business) building a better world for Pigeons.
We support UK based pigeon, bird and wildlife sanctuaries by providing food, medication and payment of veterinary bills.
We advocate for pigeons by talking at events and festivals on 'why we should love pigeons'
Our Story:
Our founder Sue started out in life as an Registered Veterinary Nurse in Veterinary Practice.
She worked in several practices in the midlands, over a 15 year period.
In 2010, She opened one of the first dog daycare centres in the UK in Staffordshire where her and her staff looked after 30 dogs each day - this was her dream business! After several happy years, a fall from a bridge fractured her back in several places and meant she could not walk for a while. Regrettably, she had to close this business, but, in a positive move this meant that she went to work back at a Veterinary hospital and this is where her journey as a bird carer really began.
Due to her back injury, she worked as a Patient Co-ordinator with a clinic at the front of the building near reception. Here she saw the extent of care needed for wild birds and pigeons with clients bringing them in for help, only to be turned away.
She began to care for garden birds in her home and garden and eventually in 2018 she obtained some land and opened an official bird sanctuary.
Sue had one staff member and 2 volunteers who between them cared for thousands of birds each year. She quickly learned that pigeons were a little different to garden birds physiologically and also with their long term care requirements, so in 2020 she became a pigeon only sanctuary - working along side another local sanctuary who took the garden birds for her.
In 2022 Sue got divorced and lost her home, so began to live in a motorhome on the sanctuary land. 3 months later, that land was put up for sale by the owner and Sue could not raise the funds to purchase, so the sanctuary faced closure. An amazing lady offered land in Carmarthenshire in Wales.
Sue and 200 resident pigeons moved out and lived on a hillside. The land was not ideal but was all they had. In April 2023 a localised storm hit, killed some of the resident birds and destroyed the sanctuary, causing around £10,000 worth of damage. Sue knew that she had to move again. She found land locally - in a sheltered valley.
Matt moved up to West Wales from South of England to help with the sanctuary which was fantastic, and 3 months later they were settled on the new land.
Sadly , by September that year, Carmarthenshire council decreed that the sanctuary could not stay on the land as it was agricultural land and they would not allow a change of use to leisure land, despite it being privately owned.
Herd On the Hill Sanctuary stepped in and offered a home to Little Green Pigeon.
The sanctuary moved there in November 2023.
In August 2024, after a full year of relentless rain every day, it was decided that the sanctuary set up needed to improve to deal with the wet weather up in the hills there.
PETA stepped in and offered a fantastic package of help, to provide shed and new aviaries, full slabbing and rat proofing, along with new fencing for the horse sanctuary.
Sadly, the Horse sanctuary didn't want this work doing on their land and after exhausting the search for more land locally, a decision was made to close the sanctuary and relocated the birds in their care.
Little Green Pigeon C.I.C. Evolved into a fundraising and educating not for profit, helping other sanctuaries in the UK with funding and taking the educational talk of 'why we need to love pigeons' to the public at events and festivals.
Our mission is to educate the general public on the exploitative nature of Pigeon Racing and to work with wildlife organisations and vegan organisation to obtain an eventual ban on this horrendous 'sport'.
Meet the flock;
Susan Joyce -
Sue has been vegetarian since aged 8 and a vegan for the last 15 years. Her love for birds was inspired by her hundreds of hours of dog walking with her son who is bird mad from a young age.
Matt O'Leary
Matt joined LGP in 2023 just after the move the Wales.
He manages a restaurant in Cardigan and helps in the shop on his days off! He performs public speaking with Sue where possible and was an essential part of the lat year of working with the birds in the sanctuary.
Matt worked as a zoo keeper for many years in the conservation sector - before realising that he didn't agree with the industry at all! He went vegan over night and has never looked back.
Gretchen.
Gretchen joined LGP in 2024 to assist in the santuary shop.
Like Sue and Matt, Gretchen has been vegan for the last 4 years.
She lives locally and works part time as a people and wildlife officer for the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.
She wears amazing dungarees and is lots of fun and puts up with Sues post caffine nonsense!
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