An attorney who was found operating on a pigeon that he had sedated with vodka was later arrested after animal control officers raided his house and discovered about 300 living and dead birds in filthy conditions.
"There's droppings everywhere," Patrick Wren, the head of Torrance's animal control department, said Wednesday. "I'm wearing a mask. That says it all."
About 120 dead pigeons filled bags and boxes alongside Gerard Redmond Enright Jr.'s home, Wren said. Others found in pet carriers stacked floor to ceiling throughout the house were euthanized because they were sick or malnourished, he said.
County health officials declared the home unfit for humans.
Enright, 61, was arrested for investigation of animal abuse. He bailed out of jail Wednesday afternoon.
Enright denied mistreating pigeons and said he had devoted his life to saving them.
"I'm literally in shock," said Enright, who has a long, white beard and often walks with his pigeon, Twister, to a local Starbucks. "They cannot be killing any of my birds. That's like if someone was killing your kids. All my family has feathers."
Police said animal control officers went to Enright's run-down home in a tony Los Angeles suburb after getting complaints from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Wren said he visited Enright on Monday and found him operating on a pigeon, which only licensed veterinarians are allowed to do.
Enright acknowledged operating to remove a large tumor from the bird, saying he watched his own veterinarian perform such a procedure. The attorney said he gave the bird a shot of vodka, administered Anbesol as an anesthetic and used an Exacto knife to cut into it.
Full Story
"There's droppings everywhere," Patrick Wren, the head of Torrance's animal control department, said Wednesday. "I'm wearing a mask. That says it all."
About 120 dead pigeons filled bags and boxes alongside Gerard Redmond Enright Jr.'s home, Wren said. Others found in pet carriers stacked floor to ceiling throughout the house were euthanized because they were sick or malnourished, he said.
County health officials declared the home unfit for humans.
Enright, 61, was arrested for investigation of animal abuse. He bailed out of jail Wednesday afternoon.
Enright denied mistreating pigeons and said he had devoted his life to saving them.
"I'm literally in shock," said Enright, who has a long, white beard and often walks with his pigeon, Twister, to a local Starbucks. "They cannot be killing any of my birds. That's like if someone was killing your kids. All my family has feathers."
Police said animal control officers went to Enright's run-down home in a tony Los Angeles suburb after getting complaints from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Wren said he visited Enright on Monday and found him operating on a pigeon, which only licensed veterinarians are allowed to do.
Enright acknowledged operating to remove a large tumor from the bird, saying he watched his own veterinarian perform such a procedure. The attorney said he gave the bird a shot of vodka, administered Anbesol as an anesthetic and used an Exacto knife to cut into it.
Full Story
