PROVING THE IDENTITY OF STOLEN BIRDS
IDENTIFICATION OF PROPERTY
A television, a VCR, a stereo, a diamond ring, a bicycle and a bird are all considered property!
To claim your birds as "your property," you must be able to positively identify that property to law enforcement or in a Court of Law.
Many people who have been positive about the identification of their pet or breeder birds have not legally been able to get them back because of lack of "proof of ownership," leaving birds in the hands of their new owners, or with their assailants.
BIRD IDENTIFICATION
There are many ways of identifying birds:
Banding is the most common form of identification used for wild caught and domestic stock. 98% of all stolen birds have their legs bands removed, so only the remaining 2% could be identified by their leg bands. The bands remained on that small percentage only because the thieves did not enough time to remove them, or that the thief was inexperienced, such as a juvenile who did not recognize that the band was a traceable form of identification.
- Birds are sometimes banded with improper sizes or birds grow out of bands.
- Veterinarians remove leg bands due to the number of traumas seen to feet and legs.
- Birds recovered with bands have been returned to their rightful owners.
Tattooing is also a form of identification, especially of sex. Birds are tattooed with numbers or letters for exit or entry, to and from foreign countries for owners travelling with pet birds. Unfortunately, tattoos fade and stretch and numbers or letters can become illegible.
Video and still photos can be taken, and should be made in triplicate form at least.
Pictures of birds with distinguishing physical characteristics, such as deformities, relating to toes, feet, legs, eyes, beaks, wings or feathers can be used for identification purposes.
Antics particular to a certain bird, like talking, whistling, singing, phrases or tricks, can be video recorded and may or may not prove useful in getting a stolen bird back. One problem with claiming birds based on video or photographs is that law enforcement will not have those tools at hand. Instructing law enforcement by long distance that your bird is a "chatterbox" at repeating its name and address will not work. Some birds only perform in front of owners, and a stolen and stressed bird may not even talk for weeks.
DNA fingerprinting is an excellent way to identify your bird, although initial cost may be expensive. However, down the line, there may be some drawbacks to using DNA. Siblings having similar DNA may leave the potential for an innocent person to be convicted for possessing a stolen bird. There is no immediate way that law enforcement, networkers, or persons who purchase birds will know if birds are DNA fingerprinted.
Speed of Verification
Law enforcement does not have immediate capability in pulling blood or an interpretive registry record at hand, and this fact may cause birds to slip through the system. Birds confiscated and held can have a "DNA Confirmation of Identify Test" performed establishing ownership.
Visual Identity
There are no methods currently in place for stolen birds to be immediately identified on the spot for anybody trying to locate birds.
Even CITES is having some difficulty trying to establish a way to identify captive bred birds versus those that are wild caught. More research is needed in the field of identification. We need a system that can be universally used by all sectors of aviculture, from international trade to law enforcement.
Microchipping is currently one of the MOST EFFECTIVE and legally acceptable means of claiming a stolen or lost bird. Law Enforcement is familiar with this form of "Property Identification." It is a universally known technique. The North American Ratite Registry lists some 600,000 birds. Industries such as ratite, have a "National and International Register" already in place.
How microchipping and the registry is applied in the recovery birds is up to you. It is up to breeders, veterinarians and pet shops to educate clients about theft and the importance of using microchipping as a tool in claiming their bird as their property if it is stolen.
With the recent arrests of thieves in an alleged bird theft ring, all birds in the possession of the suspects were confiscated by law enforcement. Birds identified by microchipping were returned to their rightful owners, birds that could not be identified were placed in the care of Animal Control. The unidentifiable birds will never be reunited with their rightful owners. They just may be returned back into the possession of the thieves who took them.
In most cases law enforcement will not even go into properties suspected of possessing stolen birds unless birds can be positively identified. No case would stand up in a court of law without some kind of proof of ownership.
Negative comments by breeders having microchipped birds stolen is that birds are not found and chips are useless.
Anybody wanting to protect their birds by using microchipping as a way of identification in case of theft or loss, should contact their veterinarian. There is a list of pros and cons regarding microchipping, with the list of pros leading. You can educate your self through the veterinarian or by calling the microchip companies directly.
ARE returned to their rightful owners.
FACT! Stolen birds which ARE NOT MICROCHIPPED when found
ARE NOT returned to their rightful owners.
Microchip Data
Microchip companies are very user friendly in trying to reunite you with your stolen or lost bird. 24 Hour hotlines are available. FREE scanners are made available from microchip companies to Law Enforcement, Humane Societies and Animal Control Agencies.