An Elvis impersonator has been sentenced to 10 months' jail after stealing a valuable parrot from a Parkes pet store.
Horace, a four-year-old, hand-raised green Eclectus Parrot, owned by Parkes Pet Barn's Sean White, had a $2500 value on his head.
The bird often roamed free inside the store and was able to come and go from his cage as he pleased.
According to police facts tendered in court earlier this month, Elvis Stefanoski, 44, of Kemps Creek, stole Horace from the pet shop on November 24, 2018.
Stefanoski grabbed Horace by the legs and placed him in a bag and left the store - bird in bag.
A staff member closed the store at 1pm, but failed to notice Horace was missing.
When Mr White opened the store on Sunday morning and could not find his bird, he checked CCTV footage and learnt Horac's fate.
Stefanoski was identified through circulation of the CCTV footage.
Police went to his Kemps Creek property on November 26, 2018, but couldn't find him.
They did however find a number of cages with live and dead poultry stacked on top of each other.
There was no fresh water or feed and that the liquid in the water containers was black and dirty, police said. Officers contacted the RSPCA.
Police had more success next visit to the property when Stefanoski was arrested. He refused to comment when asked about Horace's disappearance.
At the time of his arrest, Stefanoski also was under investigation by the RSPCA.
Stefanoski was found guilty of larceny in Parkes Local Court and Magistrate Philip Stewart sentenced him to a term to 10 months jail with a non-parole period of five months. He will be eligible to be released on parole on December 19.
Parkes police inadvertently found Horace four months after he was stolen.
He was returned to Mr White but four months of neglect took their toll and despite rigorous attempts to rehabilitate the bird, he was unable to be returned to his former good health. Sadly, Horace died.
