Rare birds worth thousands stolen from Concord store as owner asks for community's help

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- If you walk into Feathered Follies in Concord, you may notice it's a little more empty than usual.

Owner Mercedes Kemp says someone broke into the shop on Friday night and stole her beloved pet bird Tofu.

Tofu's lived at Feathered Follies since 2010 and is worth an estimated $2,500.

"He's a kid to us," Kemp said. "He's basically a baby that we take care of. They're not just things. They're not just money. They're living beings."

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In addition to taking Tofu, another pet bird which was being boarded at the store named Plato was also taken.

The front door was never actually broken into, according to Kemp.

Instead, thieves broke a side window and went directly into the room where the birds were.

"The doors to the cages were open and the window was smashed in," Kemp said. "Stuff was pushed out of the way, tipped over onto the floor."

Kemp showed ABC7 News the room, which she left exactly as she found it over the weekend other than boarding up the broken window.

She even pointed out what she believed to be a handprint on Tofu's cage, as well as a single bloodied feather left behind on the ground.

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Kemp says she believes the break-in was done by someone familiar with how to handle birds and that Tofu was the intended target.

"I truly hope it's just as simple as someone wanted him and has him or that they want to sell him and flip him," Kemp said. "If anything happened to him permanently I don't know how I'd cope with that."

Kemp has since started a GoFundMe page to raise money to offer as a reward for anyone who is able to help get the birds back.

And for the outpouring of support, Kemp says she's received since everything happened, she just has one message.

"All of us who love him and spent years with him, I can't believe how many people have stepped up and tried to do amazing things to get him home. Thank you," she said.

Kemp says she is working with the Concord Police Department to try and bring both Tofu and Plato back home.