Poison pen letter left in kidnapped parrot's cage

A woman has made a desperate plea after her pet parrot was kidnapped and a poison pen letter threatening to kill it left in the cage. Cara Cosson, 45, from Oakley, Bedfordshire, was left devastated when she received a call from her mother to say she had been the victim of a break-in while at work. But she was plunged even further into despair when she found the heartless thief had stolen her African grey parrot Joe Joe.She says she then discovered a letter inside his cage, written using newspaper clippings, threatening to kill the bird if she called the police.

Cara says her beloved parrot has been with her since it was 14-weeks-old and loves reggae and Motown music. He will often dance along to music and his favourite songs are The Whisper’s hit Needle in a Haystack and Heatwave by Martha and the Vandellas. She said Joe Joe also barks like a dog and loves nothing more than a good cup of tea. Cara said: “Joe Joe is not a pet, he is family. He is a real character and everyone who had met him loves him. The person who stole him has taken him because that is the only thing that would be able to hurt me.People are worried about retribution but that is not important to me.



“The only thing that is important is that he is unharmed. It feels to me that my child has been kidnapped, to want of a better word. People will think it is just a bird but he’s not. He is my family. I’m trying not to think of the worst but I suspect the worst may already have happened.” Cara claims she was told by a psychic on the day of the theft that something bad would happen to her. The psychic returned to her home on Saturday and told her that Joe Joe could be returned to her by May. Cara added: “I have seen a psychic and she says that he is safe with a couple who know the person who took him. That gives me some hope.

“She said that the bird is still alive and it would be four or five weeks until I got him back. Apparently he won’t be in a good way. She actually gave me a reading on the day he went missing that something might happen but I didn’t think Joe Joe would be targeted.” The burglary took place on the morning of Friday, February 20 and Cara believes she knows who is responsible for the theft as nothing else was touched in the robbery. She has told police the information and thinks Joe Joe could be being held in Rushden or Kettering. A Bedfordshire Police spokeswoman confirmed they had arrested a man in his 40s and he had been released on bail. She added: “Unfortunately at this stage the parrot has not been recovered and the police investigation is continuing.”