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A local bird-rescue organization is offering a $1,500 reward after two birds were stolen from a pet store in Pineville last week.
Employees also plan to review a month’s worth of surveillance footage from the Parrot University shop on South Polk Street to search for other images of the suspects.
Store workers say an Umbrella Cockatoo and a Moluccan Cockatoo were taken from the Pineville parrot store on Nov. 13. Employees said a man and woman were at the store for about an hour before they grabbed the birds from their cage around 6 p.m. and ran.
The store has received a few tips since the theft, including one from South Carolina, but none of the leads have panned out so far, said Karen Cheek Justice, president and founder of Companion Parrots Re-homed.
The group originally offered a $1,000 reward for the birds’ return, but recently decided to increase the offer. “We just feel that’s the only way we’re going to get them back,” Justice said.
The suspects were described as a white man with a goatee, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, who was wearing a blue shirt and black pants. The other suspect was described as a white woman about 5 feet, 8 eight inches tall. She was last seen wearing a black hat and top with light blue jeans.
Justice said the suspects are believed to have visited Parrot U in the past, so staff are hoping they’ll be able to find other images of the pair in surveillance video from the store.
Justice said one of the birds, Emmy, had been at the shop for two years, while the other, Jasmine, had been there for three.
“We are absolutely adamant that we’re not pressing charges, she said. “We don’t want to cause trouble. We just want these birds back.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Pineville police at 704-889-7867 or Parrot University at 704-889-2325. WCNC-TV contributed
