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10,000 pigeons get 'anal security check' in China

A total 10,000 pigeons due to be released for China's National Day were subjected to an "anal security check," the official newspaper of the Communist Party said in a tweet.

By Ben Hooper
A cage of pigeons for sale on a sidewalk in Beijing China. UPI/Stephen Shaver
A cage of pigeons for sale on a sidewalk in Beijing China. UPI/Stephen Shaver | License Photo

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BEIJING, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- China's Communist Party said 10,000 pigeons due to be released for Wednesday's National Day celebrations underwent an "anal security check."

A tweet on the English-language Twitter account of the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the country's Communist Party, said the pigeons' rectums were being checked for unspecified security risks ahead of being released Wednesday for National Day, the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

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"10,000 pigeons go through anal security check for suspicious objects Tue, ready to be released on National Day on Wed," the tweet read.

A poster using the name Mr. Yang on website China Pigeon Net said there could be good reason for the anal checks.

"I have not heard of pigeons released at National Day requiring security checks, but it is possible for them to carry things such as explosives," he said, comparing the searches to airplane security procedures.

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"If they carried out security checks they would find them [explosives], just like on a person when they get on an airplane," Mr. Yang wrote.

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