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Stop the pigeon

December 23, 2014

Düsseldorf police are searching for a missing pigeon, a male carrier worth some 150,000 euros ($180,000). The bird's owner said it was stolen over the weekend and has offered a 10,000-euro-reward for its recovery.

https://p.dw.com/p/1E9K3
The stolen carrier pigeon (not pictured) is worth more than 100,000 eurosImage: DW/M. Al-Saidy

A Düsseldorf police spokesman announced Tuesday that an extremely valuable bird had been stolen over the weekend, according to its owner, and that a handsome reward was waiting for the person who finds it.

AS 969, the pigeon's name, was allegedly grabbed from its cage at a locked aviary outside Düsseldorf at some point on Saturday night.

Police suspect it may have been an inside job, or at least the work of what they called a "connoisseur." Of all the birds at the Offenbach aviary, only the one worth over 100,000 euros was reported missing by the owner on Sunday morning.

The owner told police that this particular homing pigeon - a breed of bird once utilized by militaries to carry messages but now only valuable for its racing capacities - had "good genes" and that its offspring have already competed in races in South Africa.

A reward of 10,000 euros is on offer for the bird's safe recovery.

glb/lw (AFP, dpa)