Vinkensport

] Taxonomically, there are no officially-recognized subspecies of Chaffinch within Belgium.

Cheating incidents

As with other sports, vinkensport has had its cheating scandals, as well as accusations of artificial enhancement. One finch sang a record 1,278 susk-e-weits in one hour, and the owner was later accused of doping the bird with testosterone. After one contestant sang the exact same number of calls in two rounds, the box was opened and a mini CD player was discovered within.

Opposition to the sport

rquote|right|...Blinded ere yet a-wing By the red-hot needle thou, I stand and wonder how, So zestfully thou canst sing! Resenting not such wrong, Thy grievous pain forgot, Eternal dark thy lot, Groping thy whole life long; After that stab of fire; Enjailed in pitiless wire...|"The Blinded Bird" Thomas Hardy Throughout much of its history, certain attributes of the sport have garnered criticism. Early proponents of the sport would blind birds with hot needles in order to reduce visual distractions. Thomas Hardy—the celebrated English author and poet who was also an antivivisectionist and member of the RSPCA—is said to have written his poem "The Blinded Bird" as a protest against the practice.cite book |title=Thomas Hardy Remembered |last=Ray |first=Martin |year=2007 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd |isbn=0754639738 pg. 193] In 1920, a campaign by blind World War I veterans banned the practice, and today the birds are kept in small wooden boxes that let air in but keep distractions out.

Modern animal rights activists, such as those from the Flemish Bird Protection Society, accuse trainers of "brainwashing" birds into singing more than is natural or healthy by playing looped recordings of finch calls, and that caging birds in the intentionally small and dark contest boxes is cruel. The finch is a popular aviary bird in many countries and it is forbidden in the European Union to catch birds in the wild, despite vinkeniers purporting that wild birds sing better than captive ones. Though Chaffinch populations are currently not considered to be threatened, a 2002 court case at the Belgian Constitutional Court upheld a 1979 EU law banning the capture of wild finches.

See also

* Animals in sport

References

External links

* [http://www.vildaphoto.net/photo/3024 Photo of a contest]
* [http://www.westhoek.be/info/ned/jewaserbij/2005/mei/woumen-2905/welkom.htm A finching session in West Flanders]