The owner of a pair of beloved parrots is offering a reward for their safe return, after he says someone broke into their Kendall home and stole the family’s pets.
Luis Gomez, the parrots' owner and relative of an NBC6 employee, is heartbroken.
Gomez described the pets as members of the family.
"It's very sad. I don't like to think about it too much. I just hope that they're in good hands. They've been part of our family for a long time. And my kids play with them. We put them on our countertop. We feed them orange juice, bananas, whatever they like," he shared.
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The stolen parrots are a chestnut-fronted macaw named ‘Loca’ and a blue and gold macaw named ‘Manú,’ named after the Manu National Park in the Amazon Rainforest.
Gomez says they were taken from an aviary at the family's Kendall home on SW 127th Avenue Monday afternoon.
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"We have no idea who it could be. These animals are big animals. They weigh a lot, and if you were to hold them on your arm, their talons are very sharp. They're big animals. So we're thinking that the person who did this is experienced. And they handle these animals on a day-to-day basis," Gomez said, adding to the mystery.
Despite these birds potentially fetching thousands of dollars in stores or on the black market, Gomez stresses that to his family, they're priceless.
They're offering a reward of $5,000 for the parrots' safe return.
"At the end of the day, we want to get the animals back more than anything else. That's the most important thing," Gomez said.
The Miami-Dade Police Department is currently investigating the case.
Anyone with information is urged to come forward.
