SAUGUS : 2 Men Cited Over Pigeon Treatment

About 600 pigeons being raised for restaurant consumption at a Saugus ranch went unfed for three weeks and then were released from their cages to fend for themselves, a Los Angeles County animal control officer said Wednesday.

An unknown number of the birds died of starvation or were killed by coyotes or hit by cars in front of the ranch at 28900 Bouquet Canyon Road, Animal Control Officer Jerry White said. White said the birds had not been fed for three weeks before being let out of their cages earlier this month.

White said, “There were dead birds and sick birds all over,” when he visited the ranch last week after the situation was reported to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “The birds’ cages had been opened, but these are caged birds and . . . they don’t fly very well because they’ve been in cages all their lives.”

White said Hani Lufti of Canoga Park, the owner of the ranch, was cited last week on suspicion of cruelty to animals, and Federico Esquivel, 36, the caretaker, was cited Tuesday. White said charges have not been filed pending completion of his report on the incident.

The maximum penalty for the offense is a year in jail and a $20,000 fine.

White said Lufti, 57, who owns a gas station in Reseda and bought the bird ranch about three years ago, told him that he had run out of money to feed the birds. Esquivel told authorities that he was ordered by Lufti to release the birds.

But Mona Lufti, Hani Lufti’s wife, said her husband had given the caretaker money to buy feed for the birds but that the caretaker had not done so. She said the birds have been sold or given away.

“The birds are gone, they’re fine and they’ve been taken care of,” she said.