An Elvis impersonator has been sentenced to 10 months' jail after stealing a valuable parrot from a Parkes pet store.
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Horace, a four-year-old, hand-raised green Eclectus Parrot, owned by Parkes Pet Barn's Sean White, had a $2500 value on his head.
The bird often roamed free inside the store and was able to come and go from his cage as he pleased.
Elvis Stefanoski (44) of Kemps Creek appeared before Magistrate Philip Stewart in Parkes Local Court on Monday, September 16, for the offence of larceny.
According to police facts tendered in court, Stefanoski stole the Eclectus Parrot from Parkes Pet Barn on November 24, 2018.
Shortly before 1pm, Stefanoski grabbed Horace by the legs and placed him in a bag, and left the store - bird in bag.
A staff member closed the store at 1pm, not noticing Horace was missing.
When Mr White opened the store on Sunday morning and could not find his bird, he checked CCTV footage and learnt Horace's fate.
Stefanoski was identified through circulation of the CCTV footage.
Police attended his property in Kemps Creek on November 26 but were unsuccessful in locating him.
What they did find was numerous cages of both live and dead poultry stacked on top of each other.
Police reported that there was no fresh water or feed and that the liquid in the water containers was black and dirty. Officers contacted the RSPCA.
Police again attended the property on December 3 and arrested Stefanoski.
He was taken to Penrith Police Station and interviewed.
Police asked Stefanoski about Horace's theft, to which he replied "no comment".
Officers reported that a witness stated Stefanoski had changed his appearance by cutting his long hair the day after the bird was stolen.
At the time of his arrest, Stefanoski was under investigation by the RSPCA and police requested his bail to allow authorised officers to enter his property, and any other property he kept any animals or livestock on, to check on the welfare of the animals.
Magistrate Stewart found Stefanoski guilty and sentenced him to a term of imprisonment of 10 months to begin from July 20, 2019 and expire on May 19, 2020 with a non-parole period of five months.
He will be eligible to be released on parole on December 19.
Horace was inadvertently found by Parkes police four months after he was stolen and returned to Mr White.
Despite rigorous attempts to rehabilitate the bird after four months of neglect, Mr White was unable to return him to his former good health and sadly, Horace died.
