Feathers ruffled in Dunedin booze-fuelled pigeon heist, police say

A night of boozing for three teenagers resulted in a doomed plot to pilfer a neighbour’s pigeon, Dunedin police say.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said they were called to a residential property in Waldronville at 1.55am on Saturday.

According to a neighbour, a group of youths had climbed over a fence to steal a pigeon from a backyard coop.

Although the pigeon was initially returned, the same youths soon broke into the property again, kicking in the door to the pigeon coop and stealing the bird once more, Bond said.

Upon arriving at the scene, police went to the neighbour’s property and officers discovered three intoxicated youths, aged 15 and 16, pretending to be asleep in a garage.

“They were pretending to be asleep, so we roused them, and when they pulled back a blanket, discovered a pigeon tucked under the arms of one of the 15-year-olds,” Bond said.

The officers woke the homeowner and informed them of the youths’ actions.

The boys were then taken home to their respective parents, who were also informed.

Due to the ages of those involved, Youth Aid will follow up on the pigeon theft and damage to the coop.

The incident is being treated as burglary and intentional damage because the pigeon was unharmed.

Bond said the parents of the involved youths were “unimpressed” with the teens’ behaviour, and were not aware they had been drinking alcohol.

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.