1,500 Parakeets Rescued From Two-Room Berlin Apartment

BERLIN – Berlin officials say they have rescued 1,500 parakeets from a two-room apartment.

City veterinarian Margit Platzer says the birds were flying freely around the apartment, which was "littered with feces, feathers and leftover food."

Platzer says it took her team more than seven hours on Tuesday to catch all the birds with nets.

The birds were taken Wednesday to animal shelters in Berlin and elsewhere because there was not enough room for them at facilities in the capital.

Local media reported, without citing sources, that the owner gradually bought and bred the birds until his apartment was full, and that neighbors had complained about the noise and smell.

The retired man, who was not identified, could face charges for endangering the animals' safety and health.