So, I have this friend who was thinking about flipping a house for years. He read the books, he went to the Sheriff's sales, he asked for advice. Then came the day. At a Sheriff's sale the perfect home came on the block. Smaller house, about 1100 sq ft, built in 1969, but perfect for the first time home flipper, he thought. He "wins" the home, and it is now his. Yeah! I get a phone call from him when he leaves the sale, he is excited as can be. "Can you meet me at the house?" He says. These were my pre-real estate days, and since I worked real close, I was happy to see his home prize.
I pull up, and immediately think "what a great house it is." Great condition on the outside! Great yard! Deck is in fabulous condition, just needs some stain. Bushes are overgrown, but they can be trimmed, right?
We go to the front door. Well, it's kicked in, because someone, who we found out in about a minute, was very, very smart. Hmmmm...We go in, right in the foyer are about 10 little critter cages on a shelf...doesn't seem like anything is moving. Alright, let's take a look around.
We came around the corner into the family room, and I screamed a bit, I think. This was only a taste of what was going to be seen. Over 50 birdcages, hung on the ceiling, inches from one another. (6) 50 gallon fish tanks with the water still in them, spread about. Birdseed everywhere. There is another room to the right, let's take a look. The walls look like a monster have eaten them. In the room stands 4 ceiling to floor macaw cages. From this point on, we were silent, until the basement, later.
We went upstairs...13 more 50 gallon fishtanks, 14 more birdcages. Literally, hundreds upon hundreds of Bird Fancy, Dog Fancy, Cat Fancy magazines strewn all over the floor. We had to walk on them, they covered the entire upstairs floor.
The kitchen was filled with more small animal cages, the fridge was ajar, and there were bottles and cups full of what I think, was some sort of animal food or medication. The kitchen sink was filled to the top, with syringes without the needles (the kind that you feed a baby animal with, I guess). Oh there's a basement.
Here's a scene for you, two grown adults clutched to each other, taking each step the same, slowly creeping down the stairs. It was scary, because there was the weird noise coming from down there. We had to use a flashlight, because there was no power, of course. As we reached, what we thought, was the last step, my friend steps down, while I wait on high ground. He sinks past his knee, in something, the flashlight goes whipping around the room, and all we can see is a sea of birdseed, 3 feet thick from corner to corner. There are mice literally swimming in it, (think of dolphins swimming, jumping in and out of the water.) Well, I guess this is where he kept the bird food.
I hate to admit it, but we literally ran out of the house screaming. Well, let's check out the garage, can't be that bad. My friend, opens the garage door, and well, this is the worst part of the property, in my opinion. There are birdcages, again, hung on the ceiling, by later statistics, the garage housed 123 birdcages. There is a fake wall built, much like a meth lab would be built, and inside are over a hundred bird nests and bird houses.
Well, needless to say, the house was demolished soon after. First there was a cleanup, with family and friends in hazmat gear. The final count was as followed:
189 birdcages (run about $50 each in the pet store), 138 fake bird nests and houses, 4 macaw cages, 16 small hamster cages, 21 (50) gallon fish tanks, and 6 (10) gallon tanks.
Amazingly there was not one dead animal, not even a fish, that was left.
After the house was demolished, neighbor stories came out of the woodwork. Story goes that he left in his pickup truck with all his animals, and a Macaw on his shoulder. Fishes in baggies, birds filled to the brim in cages and crates. Dogs and cats sitting on the front seat. Neighbors said that he had over a thousand birds, at least 4 dogs, 6 cats, numerous other small animals, and who knows how many fish. Neighbors said they could hear the Macaws pecking at the walls at night.
He was breeding them. He was obviously mentally ill, and exhibited it by hoarding animals. But it was animal abuse, with a capital "A" because of the closed quarters by the very least. The neighbors knew but seemingly never said anything. Apathy. They say he still can be seen around town at the local pub.
A beautiful new house has been put in the place of the old "bird house." There isn't a trace of what happened on the site, except the occasional exotic bird sitting at someone's birdfeeder.
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