“They were domesticated before the dawn of recorded writing,” she says, from a species called the rock dove. “We know Genghis ...

Picasso, Elvis Presley, Walt Disney and Charles Darwin all owned pigeons as pets. Over the years, the birds have fallen on hard times and are often seen more as a nuisance than a domesticated animal.

Food Inspection Agency says it has uncovered a case of Newcastle disease at a commercial pigeon operation in Chilliwack, B.C.