Thieves snatch $1,800 baby cockatoo from pet store

MINEOLA, N.Y. – Police are looking for a baby cockatoo reported stolen from a suburban New York pet store.

News station CBS2 says the 12-week-old Goffin’s cockatoo was taken Saturday from For Birds Only, a store in Mineola (min-ee-OH’-lah).

Goffin’s cockatoos are native to Indonesia and known as intelligent and affectionate.

Store co-owner Ida Ferreira says the stolen bird needs to be fed formula through a dropper. She’s pleading with the thieves: “Don’t let him die.”

CBS2 says three people came in and asked an employee about the $1,800 cockatoo. Security video shows two grabbing it from an open-topped enclosure and stuffing it in a bag while the third apparently plays lookout.

The bird’s disappearance was discovered minutes after the thieves left.

The Nassau County Police Department is investigating.

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Information from: WCBS-TV, http://www.cbs2ny.com