Sources: Emotional support parrot dies after mistaken pet store pickup

Sources say an emotional support parrot that was accidentally taken from a West Islip pet store has died.

Faris Furoogh got the Quaker parrot, named Sunny, for his mother on Friday as an emotional support animal while she is coping with some medical issues.

On Monday afternoon, they brought Sunny to B.T.J's Jungle pet store to get his claws trimmed. The bird was then placed in a box and left on a counter to be picked up by its owner.

Store employees and police say a man picked up the medium-sized carrying box with Sunny inside and walked out. The incident was caught on security cameras.

Sources say the man accidentally picked up the box thinking it was full of mice he had just purchased. They say the man kept the box in his car during the day and that when he opened it up later, the bird had died.

Police are calling the incident non-criminal, but store employees are wondering why the man didn't say anything or call the store after discovering he picked up the wrong box.

Faris Furoogh told News 12 that the he and his mother are “devastated.”

"We just want our bird back,” he said. “Without him, it’s like an emptiness in our hearts.”

Police initially investigated the stolen parrot case as a petit larceny. No charges will be filed.