A pet shop owner has recounted the horror of finding distressed animals sprayed with blue paint during an overnight burglary at the store.

Two thieves wearing balaclavas smashed their way into Caves Pet Shop in Crowland, near Peterborough, and stole stock valued at around £2,000. 

And during the raid they cruelly took a can of blue paint from a shelf and sprayed a parrot and a chinchilla. 

Shop owner Rebecca couldn’t believe the sight that confronted her and immediately thought: “Who would do such a thing, and why?”

Rebecca, who has run the shop for more than 15 years, told Pet Trade Xtra: “It was distressing to see that the shop had been broken into, but my first thought was for the poor animals. The sight of them upset everyone.”

The parrot, an Orange-Winged Amazon called Buddy, was covered in blue paint. His mate Charlie was missing and at first it was thought he had been stolen but he has since been spotted in the area.

“We’ve been trying to clean up Buddy but it’s a slow and stressful process,” added Rebecca. “As he tries to clean himself there is a danger that he absorbs the paint. It would poison him so we are doing our best for him. He is also missing his mate.”

Rebecca thinks the burglars, who were caught on CCTV, tried to steal the parrots but were bitten in the process, and in retaliation spray-painted the animals.

“If I ever get my hands on these vandals they’ll wish they’d never seen a can of blue paint,” said Rebecca. “I believe they are local so someone must know them.

“But I have to say the local community has been fantastic. Everyone has been shocked by what’s happened and can’t understand why people would do such a thing.”

The burglary took place in the early hours of Thursday, February 10. Among the stock stolen were jackets, leads and tools.  

Rebecca is keen to find the missing Charlie and urges anyone who spots him to contact her on 01733 810888.