Walsall man’s shock at theft of beloved canaries

Sixty prized canaries worth around £2,000 have been stolen from a garden shed in Walsall.

The precious birds were kept in a shed at the home of blind ex-soldier Joe Stackhouse in Rushall.

Thieves entered the back garden of the home, forcing the padlock on the shed and making off with the birds while Mr Stackhouse, 75, and his wife Valerie, 74, slept.

Mr Stackhouse has kept birds most of his life and has won several Best in Show prizes with his canaries at shows across the Midlands.

He said: “Every bird had gone, apart from six little babies in their nests.”

Mr Stackhouse says the culprits, who struck sometime between 8pm on May 31 and 5am on June 1, are likely to be known to him as there is no way of someone knowing he keeps them just from looking at the house.

Police have appealed for anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area to call 101.

(Reproduced from Express and Star, 7th June)

Gardien Comment: See the article on Shed Security at http://www.garden-security.co.uk/shed-security-print.htm