Investors who stand to lose thousands of dollars in a failed pigeon-breeding scheme may be wondering if they were sitting ducks for the self-styled Pigeon King.
Arlan Galbraith, owner of Pigeon King International (PKI), has handed his controversial pigeon breeding business over to a bankruptcy trustee, possibly leaving as many as 1,000 investors in the United States and Canada without a market for their birds.
Calls to Pigeon King International’s Waterloo, Ont., office last week were met with an automated voice messaging system notice that said the mailbox was full.
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Allegations that Galbraith was running a variation of a pyramid scheme have dogged Pigeon King International for almost a year, with four U.S. states recently moving to ban his firm from operating within their jurisdictions.
Last week, in a notice sent out to PKI’s estimated 1,200 contractors, employees and holding facility operators in the United States and Canada, Galbraith stated that his once-thriving business had been driven into bankruptcy by fear mongers, and that he was suffering from Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
A report in Ontario’s Better Farming publication estimated that as many as 1,000 people had invested anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million each in the pigeon venture.
Some paid up to $500 per breeding pair, and in return, PKI bought back the offspring for anywhere from $8 to $50 each, depending on the contract terms and upfront investment.
His detractors alleged that no realistic end market existed for the birds, other than resale to newer entrants into the scheme.
In the e-mail sent out June 17, Galbraith claimed to have paid out $12 million in 2007 to contractors.
He also blamed the company’s failure on the high cost of fuel, feed and maintenance of holding facilities, and a large outstanding tax bill due to his failure to collect GST on pigeons sold to contractors.
In recent months, possibly in response to the rising chorus of concerns about the long-term sustainability of his pigeon breeding enterprise, Galbraith had proposed to develop a pigeon meat processing plant.
As for the birds, Galbraith has invited owners to do with them as they see fit.
“You can sell them for whatever price you want to whomever you want. You can auction them off. You can let them free fly and forage in the fields with the wild pigeons. You can gas them and bury them on your farm,” said Galbraith in the letter.
Fred Clement, a former PMU rancher near Rossburn, Man., who bought some breeder pigeons last year and operated a holding facility for PKI, said that he and other operators left high and dry by Galbraith were looking at various options for the birds.
Selling young squab or eggs to the ethnic Chinese market might provide a way out, said Clement, if there is a federally inspected processing facility that will slaughter the birds and if the breeds PKI sold them are large enough for eating.
“I’m not sure if I’ve got the right type,” he said. “That’s the only thing that’s bothering me a little bit.”
Clement, who once did sales and technical support for PKI’s new recruits in Manitoba, backed off from his involvement earlier this year.
“I didn’t feel comfortable with exactly what was going on,” said Clement.
He estimated 40 to 50 farmers in Manitoba had become involved in the business.
He placed the latest figure that he had heard of the total number of PKI-contracted pigeons in the U.S. and Canada at 190,000 pairs.
Waterloo Regional Police public affairs spokesperson Olaf Heinzel would not confirm that an investigation into PKI was underway, but did say that police were encouraging affected parties to come forward and file a formal complaint.
