Sam, a 35-year-old eagle, was stolen from the Quogue Wildlife Wildlife Sanctuary on July 16 after someone cut the fence around the bird's enclosure between 2:15 pm and 4:15 pm, police said. of Suffolk County.
Marisa Nelson, the shelter's director of programs, said the staff members were "shocked and confused at first because the padlock stayed outside her cage".
According to Nelson, surveillance footage showed a person walking through the shelter's car park early in the morning with a backpack and leaving with a "briefcase or bag" in their hands.
The bald eagle is a federally protected species, which renders the possession illegal and is punishable by fines and imprisonment. Sam had been living at the Suffolk County Refuge for over 30 years and had been shot and wounded in the 1980s.
It was possible that the abductor took the bird because of the black market demand for bald eagles feathers.
The Suffolk County SPCA is paying $ 10,000 for the award, the Nassau County SPCA has offered $ 5,000 and Suffolk County's crime organizers have pledged $ 5,000.
