Serial parrot thief may be on the loose in Berks County

OLEY, Pa. (WPVI) -- Employees from the Oley Turnpike Dairy Petting Zoo had just arrived for work last Wednesday morning when they knew something was wrong.

"They came in to feed the animals and one of my employees realized that the animal house had been broken into with bolt cutters," said Manager Terry Marra.

It turns out three of the zoo's six parrots were stolen.

Marra says she thinks the thief, or thieves, would have made away with all of them if they could have.

She says, "They left our three Macaws. They're big and they would hurt you if they bit you. So, I think that's why they left them."

Now, Berks County authorities are wondering if there might be a serial exotic bird thief on the loose.

This past February, someone broke into Diane's Pet Center in Reading and stole a White-Capped Pionus Parrot makes Levi.

Shop owner Diane Stepler says, "They came in and they stole one of my customer's parrots we were babysitting for and they stole about $500 of bird food and we were devastated."

Then, in May, overnight surveillance video captured the scene as a masked man rams his vehicle into the garage door of Pena's Auto Service in Reading.

The thief is then seen entering the customer service area and stealing two parrots that the owner kept in the lobby.

As of today, Central Berks Regional Police investigators say they are unaware of a possible motive, and there are no named suspects in these cases.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.