Rocky, who comes from Cornwall, is due to finish his first race in an aircraft three weeks after he was brought into Jersey Village Vets in St Mary with serious injuries to his neck and chest.
Adele Trott, the veterinary surgeon who treated Rocky, decided to make an Islandwide appeal on Facebook once his owner – who she had tracked down by contacting numerous UK pigeon racing clubs – revealed that the bird had never attempted a long flight over water before and might not survive the journey on his own.
Within two hours of the appeal being made, David Brown, a local pilot, came forward offering to give the Cornish pigeon a lift back to the UK in his plane.
Ms Trott said: ‘After Rocky was brought into us a few weeks ago we managed to track down his owner in the UK, who was really relieved we had found him but added he couldn’t get a flight to Jersey to collect Rocky. He also told us that this had been Rocky’s first ever race, where he was on course from Normandy to the UK, and had never flown a long distance over water before.
‘When we found out that he was so inexperienced we couldn’t bring ourselves to just let him go knowing that he had to try to get across the Channel on his own, especially after being injured.’
She added: ‘Everyone in the vets became very fond of him and the thoughts of setting him up to fail like that really broke our hearts, which is why we decided to ask for help online.’
Mr Brown (62), from St Ouen, who flies a Piper BA28 as a hobby, said yesterday that although he had picked up dogs from the UK this was the first time he had ever transported a pigeon.
He added: ‘I will be flying over Bournemouth, so I rang Bournemouth and said: “I’ve got a bit of an unusual request. If I land will I be OK to go away from the runway and let this pigeon go?’’
‘Weather permitting I will land and let it go about 9 am tomorrow.’
Mr Brown said Rocky’s owner was was confident he would be able find his way home from Bournemouth.
Ms Trott added that Rocky’s owner had promised to send her and the veterinary team a photo of the feathered adventurer once he had returned.
