Raid on PKI headquarters triggered by fears of starving birds
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
by BETTER FARMING STAFF
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An inspector with the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society cited concerns that birds connected to Pigeon King International Inc. were "going to be abandoned, starved or otherwise neglected" when he sought and obtained a search warrant for records in the company's headquarters in Waterloo last week.
The search warrant, obtained by inspector Gary Boes on June 25, and filed in a Kitchener courthouse on Wednesday July 2, cited pigeon breeder Arlan Galbraith's June 17 letter to contract growers advising them that Pigeon King International and associated company Benn Contracting were out of business because of "fear mongers." The search warrant, executed on June 26, produced a one page list of holding barn operators and addresses and six pages of names of contract growers raising birds for Pigeon King International.
The court documents, obtained by Better Farming on July 2, show that Ontario SPCA became aware of concerns about PKI from two different sources on June 23. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs provided Boes with a copy of Arlan Galbraith's June 17 letter.
Also on June 23, SPCA inspector, Carol Vanderkeide spoke to Robert Siebring, of Wellington Road 123 in North Perth, who was reportedly caring for 35,000 pigeons owned by PKI. According to the documents, Siebring told Vanderheide there were more area farmers "stuck with many pigeons and are out or are running out of feed but he would not provide further information."
Following the complaints, Boes and other Ontario SPCA officers were unable to make contact with anyone at the Pigeon King office in Waterloo. The information in support of the warrant says "there has been no information indicating there is a trustee looking after the affairs of the company."
In fact a trustee didn't take over the company's affairs until July 2, two weeks after Galbraith circulated a notice saying he had retained a bankruptcy trustee, adding "my hands are tied and the Trustee is responsible for everything."
The owner of the building listed in the warrant confirmed that Galbraith had paid rent on the office space until the end of June.
The landlord has told Better Farming that Galbraith, himself, rather than his companies, had contracted directly to rent the office space. Other documents obtained by Better Farming indicate that Galbraith, the company's owner and founder, bought vehicles, signed long term contracts to buy back birds and bought property in his own name before Pigeon King International became a legal entity.
Inspector Boes who is based in Kitchener directed Better Farming's inquiries to Ontario SPCA headquarters in Newmarket. Alison Cross, manager of marketing and public relations, says the owners of contract holding barns have been contacted. She couldn't say if birds had been found starved, abandoned, or abused, because that might infringe upon a pending investigation. She directed Better Farming to speak to the Ontario Farm Animal Council (OFAC), which she said is the "lead organization" in making sure that breeders are taking care of their birds.
Executive director Crystal Mackay says OFAC "does not have access" to the list of breeders involved in the PKI bankruptcy and has no plan to try to contact them. Farmers who feel birds aren't being cared for, or breeders who have trouble taking care of their birds are invited to call the animal care helpline at the OFAC office at 519-837-1326. Their calls will be taken during office hours Monday to Friday. As of 2 pm Thursday, OFAC has not received any helpline calls directly from breeders, she says.
Most callers with concerns about pigeons are calling the OMAFRA helpline 1-877-424-1300.
Mackay says in one case OFAC, OMAFRA and Ontario SPCA provided feed for a short time for a barn full of birds that was scheduled for euthanization. Calls for help will be dealt with "on a case by case" basis she says.
"We don't want any birds starving to death," Mackay said, adding "I don't want 500 guys calling me saying; ‘can you buy we feed for the week.’ We aren't set up for that." BF
Important Note: © Copyright AgMedia Inc. Copyright for this article like all material on this website belongs to AgMedia Inc. Links to this site are welcome but this material may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any other publication or on any website.