Decapitated Birds Found On Streets In Vegas Neighborhood

May 9, 2014 4:59 PM

LAS VEGAS (CBS Las Vegas) - Residents in the valley’s east side are disgusted by what they’ve been finding in the streets.

Piles of beheaded birds are being dumped in seemingly random locations throughout the area, reports KLAS-TV.

Helen Arciaga, a Charleston Boulevard thrift shop owner has found several dead birds in an alley behind her store. “Oh, where did this come from?” she asks. “Oh my good Lord it stinks.”

Street cleaner Ryan Roskins tells KLAS-TV he’s been seeing many of the birds as he makes his rounds.

“The first time I saw it, it was a large rooster,” he said. “Everything else is there, feet, feathers. It’s just decapitated.”

He has a theory for the increase in the gruesome finds. “I actually think it must be voodoo,” said Roskins.

A West African priest tells the station that may not be the case. He says people practicing the religion of Santeria or Ifa use animal sacrifices like chickens, pigeons or goats as a means of protection or as a way to cleanse the body.

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Berkeley Law Students Charged In Vegas Bird Decapitation

Felony charges in casino bird's beheading

What happens in Vegas can end up in a courtroom.

Two University of California Berkeley law school students were charged with crimes -- one with felonies -- in Las Vegas for allegedly beheading an exotic bird, according to reports.

Prosecutors say Justin Teixeira, 24, and Eric Cuellar, 24, stole a 14-year old helmeted guineafowl from a cage at the Flamingo resort and casino on Oct. 12. The pair were seen on surveillance video chasing the bird into some trees, and then emerging a short time later with the bird's body and its severed head, the Associated Press reported.

Teixeira's charges include felony killing and felony torturing of an animal, while Cuellar's charge is a misdemeanor. Teixeira could face prison time if convicted, while Cuellar's maximum sentence is six months in jail, the news agency reported.

If convicted, the men's futures as attorneys may be at risk. The State Bar of California requires lawyers to "demonstrate good moral character."

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Berkeley-Law-Students-Charged-In-Vegas-Bird-Decapitation-185071101.html

27 dead doves in Vegas area have bird virus

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Wildlife officials in Nevada are asking the public to help look out for sick or dying pigeons or doves in the Las Vegas area after more than two dozen dead doves tested positive for a bird virus.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the only birds affected so far are Eurasian collared doves. They're about the size of a pigeon, greyish or tan with a black half-collar and white edge on its neck.

State wildlife veterinarian Peregrine Wolff says the first death was reported late September in a North Las Vegas backyard. Twenty-seven cases have been confirmed but none since Oct. 18.

Wolff says the virus known as PPMV1 (pigeon paramyxovirus-1) doesn't pose any real threat to humans though direct contact with sick birds could lead to eye infections.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/27-dead-doves-in-Vegas-area-have-bird-virus-4001559.php#ixzz2B4c9bQiR

2 Arrested in Killing of Exotic Bird

LAS VEGAS -- Metro Police arrested two Berkeley law school students for killing an exotic bird Friday morning at the Flamingo Hotel's wildlife habitat.

Eric Cuellar and Justin Teixeira, both 24, were arrested after witnesses reported two men throwing a dead bird, while laughing and talking about killing it.

The large bird was a 14-year-old helmeted guinea fowl.

Cuellar and Teixeira were captured on video surveillance chasing the bird into trees and then emerging carrying the bird's body and severed head.

"According to the security people, the men were laughing and joking about the fact of what they had done," Sgt. John Sheahan of Metro Police said. "Security had allegedly seen these men chasing the bird into a brushy treed area of that habitat and then coming out of that area with the bird in two pieces."

The pair told police officers they attend Berkeley University in northern California, but refused to speak with officers otherwise. Berkeley student identification cards were found in their possession.

Animal rights activists are outraged, but are glad the pair are being tried under a tough new law that makes killing an animal a felony.

Cuellar and Teixeira were booked into the Clark County Detention Center and are facing felony charges of conspiracy and willful malicious torture/killing of wildlife.

Anyone with any information concerning this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555.

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/19808853/2-arrested-in-killing-of-exotic-bird