Investigators, armed with a warrant to search a Pasadena house for narcotics, discovered not only a stash of cocaine but also cages full of dead and abused "show" pigeons.
"We have confiscated about a hundred of these pigeons and taken them to our Houston shelter. Another hundred birds in the cages were already dead from neglect," said Courtney Frank, Houston Humane Society spokeswoman. "This is an odd one, don't see many like this."
Cheryl Figueroa, 37, has been charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance after two grams of cocaine were recovered from her residence at 506 Johnson. Frank said animal cruelty charges are pending.
In addition, investigators have taken legal steps to condemn the house if improvements are not made to clean the premises, said Vance Mitchell, spokesman for the Pasadena police.
When animal cruelty investigators arrived at the home on July 7, the yard was covered with rotting garbage, old appliances and cars, Frank said.
Frank said the homeowner was breeding and training the birds to perform.
"Show" pigeons are specially bred to do stunts and are different from other varieties such as homing, carrier or racing pigeons, she said.
Show pigeons are trained to soar high into the sky and then dive straight downward in a spiral pattern, she explained.
"There's a big show in New Mexico where they give awards for how long they go before they pull out (of the dive). It's kind of like playing chicken with the ground," said Frank.
The birds, which are worth between $25 to $200 if healthy, cannot survive in the wild now, she said.
"We plan to nurse them and then try to find them a home," she said. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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