THREE racing pigeons valued at €170,000 and owned by a syndicate have been stolen from Fortuna in the Murcia region.
The birds called Sordo, Gran Capitan, and Joker are regarded as top-notch racers and were taken on August 24.
They have dominated events recently in the Valencian Community and Murcia.
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The Guardia Civil in Santomera are investigating and are focusing on pigeon owners and breeders with previous arrests for similar thefts- albeit of lower value birds.
The Las Provincias newspaper reported that the thieves knew exactly what they were after.
Dovecote owner and a member of the Pedrto de Civa six-man syndicate, Jose Francisco Fernandez, said: “There were 40 pigeons and they only opened the cages of the three most valuable ones.”
“They knew they were there, and that we hadn’t yet set the alarm. They planned the robbery in detail,” he added.
Fernandez added said that the Guardia Civil is taking the theft seriously and dusted the cages for fingerprints.
Syndicate member Pedro Garcia told Las Provincias: “It was a very big disappointment and an irreparable loss, and we are after any tip-off as to where they might be and that information can be given in secret.”
Jose Francisco Fernandez bemoaned the triple theft: “It is very difficult to raise a pigeon like Sordo because they are pure-bred which is why they are so valuable.”
“They are unique, elegant birds with great flight capacity, and that is why we train three times a week, and we win championships.”
The three pigeons were tagged which means they will be very difficult to sell.
“We suspect somebody has been monitoring pigeons in recent competitions, and that the thieves are breeders or somebody has provided them with information to commit the theft,” Fernandez speculated.
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