Pasco deputies: Teens slaughtered racing birds

SPRING HILL, Fla. - Many people choose to live in a Spring Hill subdivision for one reason -- it is zoned for raising pigeons.

Bob Bertholf breeds them, trains them, and races them all from his backyard. "We have some real fast races because of the prevailing winds are usually on their tail," said Bertholf, who owns about 60 pigeons.

It goes way beyond a hobby for people like Bob. The birds are taken miles away on a trailer. Then they are released for a race back home. Electronic tags on their legs show the winner.

Everywhere you look there are pigeon coops. And some people pay a lot of money for the birds. And their owners get very attached to them. "Especially the good ones, you get attached to ones that come in first every week for you," said Bertholf.

Power lines, cell phone towers and hawks are normally the only things standing in the way of these birds living to race another day. Until this weekend.

That's when the family across the street from Bob found almost 20 of their prized pigeons stabbed to death. The dead birds were valued at about $15,000.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office says the way they were killed was truly gruesome.

"The suspects allegedly slit the throats of the pigeons and some of them were decapitated and mutilated," said Sheriff's Office Spokesperson Kevin Doll.

Those suspects turned out to be two teenage brothers -- one 14, the other 13. They lived in the house just behind the pigeon coop. And neighbors say they were friendly with the owner. So much so, he was reluctant to call deputies when he first realized they might be responsible.

Both boys were arrested and charged with burglary and cruelty to animals, which is a felony. One neighbor told me the boys were good kids. But no one can figure out why they allegedly killed those birds.

"Any motive that may have been? I don't know what motive you would have for animal cruelty," said Doll.

"I can't understand that at all. Because they are beautiful birds," said Bertholf.

Bob says any of the people that raise pigeons would have been glad to share their love for the birds and even give the boys their own pigeons. All they had to do was ask.

Instead, the brothers were taken to the county's Juvenile Detention Center.