terminator
22-02-2010, 19:36
DOZENS of prized budgies were wiped out after mysteriously choking at a bird show.
Hundreds of the colourful pets were lined up in their cages ready for judging - when one suddenly toppled off its perch.
As puzzled organisers gathered round to investigate, birds began "dropping like dominoes".
Panic-stricken owners grabbed their cages and dashed for the exits,fearing a gas leak.
Around 300 budgies - worth up to £1,000 each - were affected. Most revived in the open air, but the final death toll reached 38.
Rob Hughes - who organised the annual Gwynedd Budgerigar Society Open Show in North Wales - said: "After five or ten minutes as many as 12 had died. I lost one bird myself.
"We saved the majority but what happened was utterly horrible."
Plumbers and gas board officials found no trace of a leak. Inspections by the fire brigade and environmental health officers were also inconclusive.
A vet autopsy on two casualties revealed they died from congestion and haemorrhaging of the lungs.
Organisers believe a boiler flue may have become temporarily blocked by leaves, causing it to belch out fumes.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2730955/Budgies-choke-at-bird-show.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News#ixzz0gIbVM0GS
Hundreds of the colourful pets were lined up in their cages ready for judging - when one suddenly toppled off its perch.
As puzzled organisers gathered round to investigate, birds began "dropping like dominoes".
Panic-stricken owners grabbed their cages and dashed for the exits,fearing a gas leak.
Around 300 budgies - worth up to £1,000 each - were affected. Most revived in the open air, but the final death toll reached 38.
Rob Hughes - who organised the annual Gwynedd Budgerigar Society Open Show in North Wales - said: "After five or ten minutes as many as 12 had died. I lost one bird myself.
"We saved the majority but what happened was utterly horrible."
Plumbers and gas board officials found no trace of a leak. Inspections by the fire brigade and environmental health officers were also inconclusive.
A vet autopsy on two casualties revealed they died from congestion and haemorrhaging of the lungs.
Organisers believe a boiler flue may have become temporarily blocked by leaves, causing it to belch out fumes.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2730955/Budgies-choke-at-bird-show.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News#ixzz0gIbVM0GS