SARASOTA – A local pet store needs help finding thieves who stole a 500 dollars bird, a bird who may very well be dead.
Two hours after Seascape Aquarium and Pet Center received a baby blue parrot from a local breeder, it was pocketed by a thief. Chris Goins, an employee at the pet store, was helping two women who wanted to look at some of the birds.
“The one girl bought one. But the other girl decided she wanted to take one,” Goins says.
In the video, Goins is picking out the bird the lady on the right wants to buy. After he leaves, the woman in black reaches to scoop out another one. While she’s doing that, Goins is distracted with the first woman.
“The one girl was just trying to distract me and keep me away from the pen,” Goins says.
The lady in black finally grabs a baby blue parrot and puts it in her pocket. She rejoins the other woman, and they promptly leave the store.
The store manager told SNN he’s not even sure if the bird’s still alive. Since birds have no diaphragm, small lungs and no ability to inflate them, it’s not good for a bird to be in a tight spot such as somebody’s pocket.
At a minimum, the manager says he hopes the thieves are brought to justice. And of course, he says hopefully he’s being too pessimistic about the parrot and it’s brought home safely.
If you recognize any of the women in the video or know of someone trying to sell an expensive baby blue parrot, call the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office at (941) 316-1201.
To take a closer look at the security videos, you can find them here:
Security Video 1
Security Video 2
Security Video 3
