Greensburg man charged with bringing bird to bar in his pocket

A man is facing animal cruelty charges after police said he brought an injured parakeet to a bar in Greensburg. 

On an exclusive visit, KDKA's Lauren Linder watched the bird, Blue Skies, wobble around by hopping on one leg with the other in a splint. However, the budgie, a type of parakeet, is healing while in the care of Teri Grendzinski.

"We can't explain to him that this is for his own good," Grendzinski said.

It's a far cry from the situation he was in nearly two weeks ago.

"The caller's a bartender. She says there is a white male at the bar with a parakeet," a dispatcher reported on the police radio traffic.

It was the night of Feb. 21, when Greensburg police said the injured bird traveled in a man's pocket to Callaghan's Bar on South Main Street.

"The patron was bragging to other people that were inside the bar that he feeds the parakeet marijuana and has it drink beer on a daily basis," Detective Sergeant Justin Scalzo said.

In court documents, police said the man, 40-year-old Timothy Grace, "appeared extremely intoxicated," struggled to keep his eyes open and slurred his speech. He also claimed the bird was his. 

However, due to Grace's state and the animal's condition, the officer reached out to PEARL Parrot Rescue in the Pittsburgh area, who helped bring him to emergency care at Avets in Monroeville.

"They realized his leg was broken. He also had some respiratory issues going on," Grendzinski said. "He was also very, very skinny."

After the bird spent four days in the hospital, Grendzinski, who is the president of PEARL, took him in to foster. Now a week later, he's still breathing hard, remains on antibiotics, and has a large splint on his right leg.

"The leg was broken badly enough there is a chance they're going to have to amputate the leg if it doesn't heal correctly," Grendzinski said.

She said eventually, if put up for adoption, he'll need specialized care.

While Grendzinski is staying optimistic about the bird's path, she's still asking why.

"When we got that call, it was horrifying. Why would you do that to a bird?" Grendzinski said.

She's looking for some answers and justice for Blue Skies.

"Hopefully, (Grace) faces some sort of consequences, and hopefully he never does anything like this again," Grendzinski said.

Grendzinski said the vet bills are going to be well into the thousands. At this time, it's unclear who will pay for them.