The ‘Pigeon Lady’ from HOME ALONE 2 (Not the actual woman housing these 600 birds) Credit: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Move over, crazy cat ladies, there’s an new queen of excessive pet ownership.

After complaints from neighbors about the animals’ safety in the Columbus suburb of Clintonville, advocates from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) arrived to investigate on Tuesday, only to discover more than 600 parakeets, cockatiels, finches, Macaws, African grey parrots, Amazon parrots and cockatoos in the 1,000-square-foot home.

“Upon arriving at the home, it was clear an intervention was needed to remove these birds from the property and provide them with the quality of life they deserve,” Jessica Rushin, an ASPCA official, told FOX28 Columbus.

The Columbus Humane had to close for the day to handle the job. Animal support center appointments continued, but new adoption pickups needed to be rescheduled. According to the Columbus Dispatch, it took about 10 hours to free the birds.

“Our immediate goal is to relocate the birds to a temporary shelter where avian experts can evaluate the condition of each bird to ensure they receive the care they need. We are pleased to be able to provide resources and assist Columbus Humane with their life-saving efforts,” Rushin said.

U-Haul trucks, three vans and a trailer were all used to transport and house the birds. The birds will be taken to a temporary shelter where the birds will receive medical assessments and care.

The Columbus Humane CEO, Rachel Finney, told Fox 28 that workers observed missing feathers on some birds and some signs of plucking mutilation.

The homeowner, was identified as Susan Stieve, a member of a national bird showing organization and is a former national champion exhibitor. She also works at Ohio State in Horticulture and Crop Sciences. Stieve is not currently facing any charges.

This article appears in Aug 8-14, 2018.

4 replies on “Animal Advocates Rescued More Than 600 Birds From an Ohio Bird Hoarder”

  1. Oh my gosh seriously???! This is no hoarder, just because she has a lot of birds and breeds them does not make her one. Plucking happens in many senerarios, even if a bird is in a loving home. They could of been rehomed to her like that, ect. The level of ignorance is astonishing, especially that no charges have been filled and no immediate signs of medical issues have been found.

  2. Another example of ASPCA claiming to advocate for animals and actually doing the opposite. This person is a well-known breeder in the bird community and has been nothing but responsible with them. Birds molt annually and lose old feathers to replace them with new feathers. Does ASPCA not know this???
    Then how can they claim they will provide better care? ASPCA has taken baby birds being hand fed and parent raised form their secure environment and likely caused their deaths. They should have never been removed and if there were “issues” they should have been handled in the environment they were. Anyone who knows anything about birds (clearly NOT the ASPCA) knows they are fragile when stressed. One person complains because they don;t like the sound and instead of working with the breeder to mitigate the problem the poor birds are put thru this ordeal just so ASPCA can pat themselves on the back. IN my opinion the initials stand for American Society for the PRODUCTION of Cruelty to Animals.

  3. I will bet dollars to donuts that this was a raid so they can sell some really well bred birds, for their profit. Does anyone realize that Mz. Stieve. Also has a basement of 1,000 sq. Ft? How are the chicks doing? Has the ASPCA killed them? I think this should be investigated as to what the real story is.

  4. If you want to be a REALLY good reporter, and dig deeper than the surface, there is likely much more to this story than meets the eye. How about government overreach? How about theft under color of law? According to the CHS, they received an “anonymous” complaint, which led to a search warrant WITHOUT seeing the premises, and decided AHEAD of time the birds were going to be seized (they showed up with Uhaul trucks ready to go, which BTW are NOT USDA approved for animal transport.) In literally seconds, the birds were evaluated and it was determined they had to ALL be removed. However, it has been over 2 weeks and the CHS vets are still evaluating the birds. Hmmm. And Ms. Stieve has not yet been charged with ANYTHING. Hmmm. Seems like any assessment needed, could have been conducted in situ (that’s Latin, look it up) – but it makes a much better PR story for CHS, to raid a “hoarder” and then plead for donations…

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