HOUSTON – Two rare, expensive birds were taken from a Houston pet shop that is nearly half a century old, and the heist was recorded on surveillance video.
Loyal Adventures in Birds customers are now offering $2,100 for information leading to an arrest.
Manager Gary Foster said it was the first time the store had been broken into since it opened in 1980.
“We’re really upset about the break-in,” said Foster.
But what happened next bothered him even more.
The crooks returned two hours after the initial break-in, and one of Foster’s dogs chased them away. During the second break-in attempt, Foster’s second dog, Jack, wandered into the street and was hit by a car.
“The pet killed was just totally unnecessary,” he said. “That’s what upsets us the most.”
Hundreds of birds are kept at Adventures. Most of them are kept inside an alarmed enclosure inside the shop. Tall fences, barbed wire and dogs guard other caged birds outside the store.
The stolen birds, a green and red macaw and a blue and gold macaw, were worth $4,000 or so, Foster said. Other exotic birds in the store are worth much more. Some are as inexpensive as $15.
“Never had somebody come with bolt cutters and let themselves in and go and take their pick,” Foster said.
It appears one of the stolen macaws escaped, Foster said. The green and gold bird was seen in a tree near the pet shop after the break-in, but it hasn’t been seen now for several days.
Reach out to Adventures in Birds on Facebook if you think you recognize the thieves.