All my childhood I have been dreaming about paying a visit to Jos Thone. I have been breeding pigeons since I was 9 years old; ever since a child , I was hungry for information. At the beginning I received many materials from Engineer Corneliu Cretulescu, a real gentleman who has the most complete pigeonsport library from Romania and perhaps one of the most valuable in the world. My passion for doves made me learn English and French at an early stage; thus my way towards information was facilitated. Beginning with 1999, I discovered the Internet and this fully opened my way towards the real  pigeonsport. Since 2000,  I have been watching  many video tapes regarding the pigeonsport.

Dinu MIhai, Jos Thone, Florea Sorin

Dinu MIhai, Jos Thone, Florea Sorin

I do not know why, but at that time I was mostly fascinated by the doves and the lofts of Jos Thone, as well as by Jos Thone. The truth is that Jos was ahead of his time. He has always been a man of vision.  In one of our discussions, he used to tell me: “At the beginning of the 90’s, when I started to cross the speed doves with the marathon doves, everybody  considered me crazy. Now, after 20 years, everybody practices this method “. ( just a simple example)

The record of Jos Thone:

  •  4 X World Champion;
  •  5 Olympic pigeons ;
  •  5 X Trofee Gouden Duif ( probabil cele mai prestigioase trofee);
  •  2 x 1st place International ;
  •  1st place National  KBDB ;
  •  12 X 1st place National Champion BDS;
  •  13 x 1st place National Champion LCB;

We were extraordinarily welcome by him, due to the relationship he has with Pipa and implicitely due to my relation with “Nikolaas” – “my Belgian brother’. And also due to the “brotherhood’ between Jos Thone and Gyany Antonescu. Many people from Romania have been gossipping and are gossipping about this relation, but after I visited Jos, I can tell you that between Gyany and Jos there is not only a friendship….they are real “brothers”.

First of all I discovered an exceptional human being. A man who was born for doves and who will never separate from them. ( Although 2 years ago he almost did it….) Many people ‘judge’ him regarding the so-called total auction…And that was indeed a total auction. BUT…both John Hanson (the Australian billionaire), and Andy, “Big Andy” Larentzkis (Pipa, North America) decided to keep their new acquisitions in Belgium. It was much more logical like that, both from the personal point of view, and the financial point of view. Keeping a few doves in the lofts, that is the doves of his friends, BUT having the rest of the aviaries empty, Jos understood he could not live without the doves. We are speaking of a pigeon fancier who had become a millionaire due to the doves, before his total auction. And we are speaking of a pigeon fancier who, without an agressive advertisement in the magazines and the professional sites, can easily sell hundreds of doves all over the world. As he understood that, and more motivated than ever, Jos purchases the Olympic champion at speed races from Poznan 2011, together with its whole family. And in 2012 he wins the 1st place at National La Souterraine , from 19,150 squabs, at a speed of over 1800 mpm. Many people will say it is an extremely high speed, but when Jos won the race this summer, I remembered my mentor’s words, Ad Scherlaekens: “ I prefer the doves that win the races with the strong wind from behind, because they prove they have a great feeling of orientation!!!!”

Jos won this race with the young female “Sachi” , for which, in the first week, he received 4 specific offers of 120,000 Euros, but he refused them. Only 2 years ago, Jos’s female dove, “Avril” was sold in China for 140,000 Euros. “Avril” is one of the best speed doves that ever flew in Belgium. As a widow female, to take part in two consecutive Olympics is almost impossible and only a real pigeonsport fancier can realize this.

My good friend Florea Sorin has already ordered a lot containing  the most representative doves of Jos, such as : Sedna, Nadira, Arinze, Faro, Sachi, etc. . A project (Florea Ion “Mazare”& Sorin) that started only 4 months ago became the most valuable breeding  aviary from Romania and Eastern Europe, and after the acquisitions  from the spring of 2013, it will fall in the Top 3 Europe!  No exaggeration!!!! This is the reality!!!!And this should be the pride of all the Romanian pigeonsport fanciers!!!!!

Jos and his wife Gaby invited us at dinner , in an exclusive restaurant where we had many pigeonsport debates and where we learned many interesting things. At those discussions, Jos decided  me to become his agent for Romania and that in the future he would bid for doves only on my site. Actually, the first auction will take place in February 2013. Following our invitation, Jos said he would have enjoyed joining us at the Expo Targul Mures, but he had been already invited in China- ever since the summer. Jos and Gaby enjoyed the Expo FCPR Piatra-Neamt 2008 and that is why they wish to come again in Romania. Next year they will surely come!!!!

Thank you Jos & Gaby !!!