Race pigeons stolen in Edmonton end up in Strathcona County – Edmonton

A week after being stolen from a south Edmonton backyard, it appears that at least a few prized pigeons have been released.

The Edmonton Police Department shared security video of a man stealing birds in the Cavanagh neighborhood on October 18 around 9:30 p.m.

According to officers, the competition pigeons are worth more than $13,000.

Now it looks like at least some of the birds have been released.

There have been several social media posts about people finding pigeons in the Strathcona County area.

A woman has discovered a white pigeon with a pink tail in her garden in Sherwood Park.

She posted a picture of it on the Edmonton Racing Pigeons Facebook page, where she was told the bird was actually a high-flying pigeon.

The Edmonton High Flyers Club put her in touch with the owner, who confirmed the bird was part of the group stolen from Edmonton.

The pigeon flew away before the owner could retrieve it.

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$13.5,000 of racing pigeons stolen in Edmonton

Then another woman posted on Facebook that she had found a white bird with a pink tail.

Lauren Vanderveen is the manager of Joey’s restaurant in Sherwood Park and says a colleague discovered the pigeon in a fenced area at the back of the restaurant.

“We were lucky to have someone in our back house who knew how to handle it properly, use gloves and put it in a box,” Vanderveen told Global News.

“She was very tame. She didn’t try to fly away or anything. I’m sure she was just scared and cold at the time.

Vanderveen contacted several animal rescues and the police and was put in touch with the Edmonton owner.

He confirmed that the bird was the one stolen.

Vanderveen fed and kept the bird overnight, reuniting it with the grateful owner on Wednesday.

« Obviously 45 of them were stolen, but already some of them died. So he says, ‘You really don’t understand how nice it is to bring them home in one piece’ Vanderveen said of the reunion.

Edmonton police have not released an update on the number of birds found or the possibility of locating the suspect.

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