SEATTLE (AP) – After receiving complaints from neighbors, Seattle Animal Shelter staffers found 110 parakeets Tuesday in a cage in the living room of a one-bedroom apartment.
“You could hear the noise from the street,” animal control officer Neil Deruyter said.
The birds were being kept in unsanitary conditions and were surrendered by their owner, an unidentified man in his 50s who had been collecting them for about five years.
The owner told the officers he previously tried to give the small birds to another shelter, but said he had been told only five would be kept and the rest would be euthanized.
The birds will be offered to qualified adopters, the Seattle Animal Shelter said. Those wanting to adopt must complete an application and arrive with a bird cage at least 20 inches by 12 inches by 18 inches to adopt one bird, or roughly twice that size to take two.
Deruyter said he could hear the chirps when he parked outside the apartment. Still, from the sounds, he figured there were about 50 parakeets.
“I was stunned to see there were 110,” he said. “There was a lot of feces and debris in the cage and a good layer of dust on everything.”
No animal cruelty charges were expected to be filed against the owner because of his cooperation, Seattle Animal Shelter executive Director Don Jordan said.
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