Kidnapped Parrot is Reunited with His Owner a Year Later

By Adrian Butler, Liverpool Echo
United Kingdom

A parrot which was kidnapped a year ago is back with his owner - after living around the corner all along.

Green macaw Billy, from Walton, lived in a house two minutes' walk away after he was stolen and sold on.

His owner, Janet Mooney, 46, said: "I can't believe he was so close all this time."

She added: "He hasn't changed a bit - he hasn't stopped swearing."

Billy was kidnapped from the wall outside his home last November. Neighbours saw a man running away with the feathers of the £1,000 bird sticking out of a coat.

Local children used to visit Billy's perch outside the house to feed him on their way to school.

They made missing posters for the parrot as part of a huge search but, after nearly a year of looking, Janet had given up hope.

Then on Monday, a neighbour saw the 2ft parrot in a new house.

Grandmother of four Janet said: "Someone from a few streets away told me they thought someone had my Billy.

"I didn't waste any time - I went round there straight away.

"They told me they had bought him as a Christmas present."
When Janet got inside the house she immediately recognised her homesick pet.

She said: "He looked made up to see me. I put my hand into the cage and said: 'Give nannie a kiss.'


"He kissed me and said 'hello', and I took him out of the cage.

"Then I put him straight in the car and drove off."

Now Billy is back in Lauriston Road with Janet and her dog Saffy.

Janet said: "The new owner had said the parrot was very vicious.

"But he was back to his old self straight away. He's a real attention seeker and he has the run of the house.

"He was in a cage all that time, so he's been out in the garden a lot now."

Janet is not taking the matter any further with the people who had Billy, saying she is just glad to have him back.