PINEVILLE, NC (WBTV) -
A local store is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the return of two cockatoos that were stolen earlier this week, no questions asked.
It was late afternoon on Wednesday when a couple came into the Parrot University store in Pineville looking for a bird. They browsed the store for more than an hour before each on brazenly reached into a cage and each took a cockatoo and left the store holding the birds by the feet.
"It makes me sick because these birds are here because they've already lost at least one home. I have no respect for somebody who would do that," said Debbie Foster, the trainer and board member at Companion Parrots Re-homed, which takes care of the unwanted birds and finds them suitable forever homes.
The crooks took off with an Umbrella Cockatoo and a Moluccan Cockatoo worth thousands of dollars. But owners of the store and rescue are more worried about the safety of the birds than their value. Cockatoos can be difficult birds to care for and require special attention.
Security cameras in the shop captured very clear images of the man and woman duo as they reached into Emmy and Jasmine's cages and took the birds and left the store.
Check out the video for pictures of the birds and the people who stole them.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the birds or the people in the video are asked to call the Pineville Police Department at (704)889-2231 or Parrot University at (704)889-2325.
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