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| Budgies worth £60,000 stolen from Hampshire breeder | Budgies worth £60,000 stolen from Hampshire breeder |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| More than 400 budgies, worth more than £60,000, have been stolen from a breeder's home. | More than 400 budgies, worth more than £60,000, have been stolen from a breeder's home. |
| Thieves cut wires to security lights before breaking into the locked aviary in Romsey, Hampshire, between 22:00 BST on Sunday and 04:45 Monday. | Thieves cut wires to security lights before breaking into the locked aviary in Romsey, Hampshire, between 22:00 BST on Sunday and 04:45 Monday. |
| Police said the budgerigars were stolen in special transportation cages that belonged to 74-year-old Mick Freeborn. Only one was left behind in a cage. | |
| A 25-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the theft. | A 25-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the theft. |
| Police believe the thieves escaped with the birds through a golf course that runs behind the property in Upton Crescent. | Police believe the thieves escaped with the birds through a golf course that runs behind the property in Upton Crescent. |
| 'Unlikely to survive' | |
| "The victim has been building up the extensive collection for more than 50 years," said a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman. | "The victim has been building up the extensive collection for more than 50 years," said a Hampshire Constabulary spokesman. |
| "Officers think it is likely more than one person was involved and it would have needed a van or something or a similar-size vehicle to take the birds away. | "Officers think it is likely more than one person was involved and it would have needed a van or something or a similar-size vehicle to take the birds away. |
| "All the birds have rings on their legs with serial numbers on." | "All the birds have rings on their legs with serial numbers on." |
| No birds have been recovered and the one left behind will probably not survive without her flock, Mr Freeborn said. | |
| Seventeen of the stolen birds were "top class exhibition birds" and he believes they were stolen to order. | |
| He said: "Devastating is an understatement. | |
| "I will never be able to reproduce this. If I get the birds back, they won't be any good. Their stress values will be too terrible, and they're not fed properly. | |
| "I think it's an end of a lifetime career as far as I'm concerned." |