Troy police cuff wayward parrot, return him home

TROY, Mich. (WJBK) - It seems Troy is a bit of a jungle lately as birds are literally taking over the streets. The Troy Police Department already has a cat but they had a parrot, too, at least for a few minutes.

Parrots aren't exactly native to Troy but then again, cats aren't usually cops - looking at you, Pawficer Donut.

Lt. Josh Jones got the call at 10 a.m. to the Speedway on John R: A parrot landed on a man's shoulder.

"It landed right on top of a guy who was pumping his gas, minding his own business when he showed up out of the blue," Lt. Jones said. "He was very surprised, pumping gas, and the parrot landed on the shoulder."

Troy police sent two units to the scene, for some reason, to catch the animal. But this parrot was not being particularly cooperative with the officers.

"We did have to use handcuffs on the parrot," Lt. Jones said.

That's right. They handcuffed (wingcuffed?) a parrot! Now that the parrot was secure, the real police work kicked in: who owned the parrot? 

"Parottalert.com. It's a thing, apparently. Not everybody knew that," Lt. Jones said.

Sure enough, the parrot owners reported the parrot lost at 6 PM on Friday, June 29, from his home 1.7 miles away in Sterling Heights. The cops put two and two  together and reunited with the parrot with his owner.  

Apparently, birds are a bit of a problem for Troy this year (maybe that's why they got the cat?) In June, hawks circled a Troy neighborhood and were attacking kids and adults to protect their nest.