Apparent Castro Valley 'bird mill' owner forced to get rid of hundreds of tropical birds

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- Three Alameda County agencies inspected a house in Castro Valley that has hundreds of tropical birds in its backyard.

RELATED: Castro Valley neighbors complain about smell, noise from suspected bird mill

Inspectors say they have never seen anything like it. The owner will be forced to get rid of most of the birds because she's in violation of the county's zoning laws.

One neighbor says he came out of his house every day and opened the door to a hundred flies entering his home, that was the reason enough for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office to begin investigating the owner of the Castro Valley home for having an excessive amount of tropical birds in the backyard.

Animal Care and other Alameda County city officials came to the home on Jensen Road to see just how many birds she has and to examine their conditions.

"Our animal service experts seem to say the birds are being adequately cared for and maintained and fed," said Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sherriff's Office.

Neighbors have complained about the stench, flies, and the noise of more than 500 birds.

ABC7 News confirmed Tuesday that half of the birds have been either given away or sold.

Empty cages and equipment were found at the front office of the home.

Vector Control Inspectors were part of the team that went in Tuesday. The droppings have been attracting flies and other insects.

The Planning and Zoning Code enforcement department says because of its zoning laws, the owner can only have up to 50 birds. "They want to comply with our county codes but to get there is another issue, so we're trying to let them know exactly what the violations are so they can comply with that," said Ed Labayog.

In order to comply, the owner has to get rid of another 200 birds and has 30 days to do it.