Owner offering $50,000 for return of pet bird

It is not unusual for Peppers, a yellow cockatiel and his cheeky little bird friend Pearl, to fly away from their Kingston 8 home and get lost.

The duo, however, always returned. But on April 10, Peppers flew the coop again but has now disappeared without a trace. His owner, Alecia, is worried sick and is seeking the public's assistance in locating her feathered friend. She is also offering a $50,000 reward for his safe return.

"I went overseas and asked someone to bird sit and that's when he escaped. I can tell you this, she and Pearl have flown away numerous times but they don't know how to find their way home. We would usually have to go in search of them and we always find them once they are on their best behaviour and feel to respond to their names. But this time Peppers left but we have not found him," she said.

Alecia said Peppers has also been a playmate and companion for her infant son while adding that the household has not been the same without the bird.

"We are really concerned and we just want him home safely. He is seven years old and I have him from he was just a baby and had to feed him through a syringe. So Peppers has been a part of the family. He is incredibly important to our three-year-old son. We have a video of Peppers chirping beside the baby's crib and it's like the sound used to put him to sleep and wake him up back," Alecia said.

"It's not just a bird for us, it's family like a dog or a cat. When I speak about how I miss Peppers, people will just say that I am not going to see him back but they really don't understand. Right now I am very distraught," she added.

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Peppers is being asked to contact 876-423-1501 or 876-442-7720.