Our Palomacy Help Group provides fast, bird-centered, trustworthy support, information and referrals 24/7/365 for people who need help & answers about pigeons & doves, thanks to our amazing team of volunteer moderators! They attend to more than 1,000 posts every month, heroically keeping up with every request in a group of more than 10,000 members (and growing fast)! See Palomacy’s Incredibly Helpful Help Group to learn more.
Rose Lalla Jensen, Shoreview MN
Rose hails from Minnesota, the land of the frozen chosen where folks walk on water, and mosquitos are the size of doves. She currently works in the logistics industry, as well as managing several aspects of a family run business. Married and with two sons in college, she jumped head first into rescue when she and her son Ryan rescued a pair of two week old doves with splay legs from a pet store who was breeding. Her feathered family now includes nine doves and eleven pigeons. She loves to cook, especially Hungarian recipes passed down by her great grandma, and baking.
Cynthia Large, Sacramento CA
Cynthia Large is a San Francisco based artist. She loves all animals, especially cats, birds, spiders and insects. She and her daughter rescue “stringfoot” pigeons as a hobby, and a year ago they were chosen by a self-rescuing young King pigeon. The whole family has since gone down the rabbit hole of learning about, and advocating for, pigeons as companion animals.
Jill McMurchy, Carmichael CA
Jill McMurchy loves pigeons. She was bit by a broken zombie pigeon named Elinor she found on the side of the road in 2011 and has been blindly doing their bidding ever since. In her spare time, she is a caregiver to everything needy in existence. She has three grown kids and lives with an always fluctuating number of pigeons and doves, three dogs, three cats, some budgies and a flock of finches. Jill is Palomacy’s full time Care Director.
Nina Bohn, Seattle WA
Nina moved to the Pacific NW in the late 90’s to attend the UW, where she dual majored in Biochemistry and Ecology. While looking at options for grad school, she took a job as a software tester, and has been working in software development ever since. Nina has worked with animals her whole life in one capacity or another but her path diverged into pigeon and dove rescue in 2014 when her son brought home a 5 day old squeaker, named Sam. Currently Nina cares for 15 pigeons, and various Ring-neck, Eurasian Collared, and Diamond Doves. In addition to bird rescue, Nina is an avid bird watcher, amateur naturalist, and nature photographer. She also enjoys reading.
Gwenn Moore, Monroe NY
Gwenn entered this world with a love for all animals. Her life has been filled with all sorts of pets and needy critters. She spent several years working for a vet, became a certified pet facilitated therapist and has been saving feral cats for many years. Her partner in crime, Steve, found a lost racing pigeon and her friend, a hawk attack victim, and their pigeon odyssey began. In spite of neither having any carpentry skills, they have built an aviary and are the proud parents of 14 rescued pigeons, 3 dogs and 8 cats.
Jenna Close, Oceanside CA
Jenna Close is a photographer and filmmaker in San Diego. In 2017 she was adopted by a lost ringneck dove who hung out in her palm tree for several weeks before she found Palomacy. Killer (the dove) ditched the palm tree for an aviary and a wife. They are now neighbors to 26 pigeons, one of whom showed up in the yard almost exactly two years after Killer. When not puttering amongst her flock, Jenna enjoys surfing and solo travel in hard to reach places.
Robin Utt Fajardo, Flushing NY
Robin lives in New York City. Although always an animal lover, she didn’t get to know pigeons until her daughter rescued a baby during a bad storm. That event changed the whole family. They share their lives with a couple of unreleasable pigeons adopted from the Wild Bird Fund. Retired, Robin and her husband devote their time to their multicultural community and to pigeons in need. Robin is also a member of our Volunteer Phone Line Team.
Nadja Lacroix, Keltern, Germany
Nadja is from Germany and has been a rehabber for pigeons (and occasionally other wildlife) for many years. If she has any free time, she loves to skate and sew. Nadja is also part of the EnzTauben rescue team.
Emily Taylor Beighley, Oakland CA
Emily is a humane educator currently living in Oakland with her partner and their young child. She holds degrees in Early Childhood Education and Classical Languages from SCC and UC Davis, and a certificate from the Institute for Humane Education. Emily was named Humane Educator of the Year in 2017 by Animalearn, the educational division of the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS). She recently took a sabbatical from her career, managing the youth programming for a local nonprofit rescue group, in order to raise her own little human. Volunteering for Palomacy has given her a chance to continue working in the humane education field.
Christina Picchi, Maple Park IL
Christina graduated with a degree in Medical Laboratory Technology. Her dedication to pigeon health through the study of parasitology and conducting necropsies further strengthens her commitment to medical understanding of pigeons. She is the Shelter Director at Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue, where she oversees the care and well-being of her feathered residents. Her love for the diverse colors and patterns of pigeons in Chicago inspired her to get deeply involved in pigeon rescue.
Mali Nienstadt, Winooski VT
Mali is a born animal lover hailing from Washington DC. She started rescuing pigeons when the Covid pandemic hit and everyone was stuck at home. Once she started, she couldn’t stop and she quickly began rescuing pigeons on her own and adopting several. She now specializes in special needs pigeons thanks to a little tumbler pigeon named Ringo. She continues to foster and rescue now in the Vermont area with Ringo and a few other permanent resident pigeons as well as a revolving door of foster pigeons!
Micael Guel, Yakima WA
Bio coming soon
Christine Housel, Gainesville FL
Bio coming soon
Keria Rossin, Brighton MI
Bio coming soon
Heather Simmons, Fall River MA
Heather was born and raised in Rhode Island and is a true home body, never straying far from the ocean state. She has been a licensed wildlife rehabilitator since 2011 as well as having degrees in wildlife biology and conservation and environmental science with special concentration in shorebird and pelagic seabird biology and breeding behavior. Heather first became interested in domestic pigeon rescue when she became aware of their plight and the lack of education and resources surrounding them. She has found homes for over a hundred pigeons in the last two years and works around the clock to provide support for pigeon adopters and educate those who have found a domestic pigeon in need.
Elizabeth Young, San Francisco CA
Elizabeth, founder and director or Palomacy, grew up in Las Vegas, graduated with a degree in English from UC Berkeley, worked 13 years on the front lines of the war on poverty to reduce poverty and develop self-reliance, spent 6 years making educational toys and in 2007 became an accidental pigeon rescuer. Elizabeth has always loved all animals and had no special interest in pigeons when she began volunteering at the San Francisco Animal Care & Control shelter except concern when she learned they were coming into shelters but not getting out. They were the only animals who had no one helping them. Elizabeth hadn’t intended to start a rescue but she helped a pigeon named Gurumina and then another named Rocky and…