Father says little girl 'devastated' after thieves steal pet chicken named Pretty

OVIEDO, Fla. — Thieves returned a stolen chicken to a family Wednesday morning.

The thieves dropped it off sometime overnight and left the chicken in a cage next to the coop, WFTV reported.

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Prior to the chicken's return, police in Oviedo, Florida, were looking for a group of people caught on surveillance video stealing chickens from a coop.

One of the stolen chickens belongs to a young girl, whose family said she was devastated to find out her pet was gone.

Luis Falla said his daughter had named her pet chicken "Pretty" and tied a bow around its neck.

Falla said they had raised Pretty and three other chickens since before they hatched.

The family wondered why, with all the wild chickens walking around town, someone would want to steal theirs.

The chickens were stolen from a coop that is located behind the family's dog grooming business.

"She is very heartbroken, and she cries almost every day. She is 7 years old. She doesn't really understand what is going on," said Falla.

There are several surveillance cameras on the building, but none of them were able to capture the theft of Pretty.

But the neighboring convenience store had cameras pointed in that direction and captured the whole thing.

The video showed a pickup truck pulling into view around 1 a.m. on Oct. 4.

Either seven or eight men, or teenagers, got out of the truck and went to the coop.

One of the "chicken-nappers" is later seen carrying Pretty to the truck.

There are several wild hens and roosters wandering the streets of Oviedo.

Police said people have been capturing them for years, and it's not illegal to do so, but it is illegal to steal the chickens from a private coop.

"They just came here to take our chickens because there is no running around. There is no jerking around. They just came, parked and went where they needed to get and left," said Falla.

Falla and his family said they've now installed cameras to prevent thieves from stealing the chickens again.

Cox Media Group