Bankrupt Pigeon King's country home to be auctioned off

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

The house that Ontario’s self-anointed pigeon king built himself will go on the auction block next week.
 
London-based Gardner Auctions Inc. will take bids on Arlan Galbraith’s former home on Frederickhouse Road, west of Cochrane, Sept. 23.
 
Creditors petitioned Galbraith into bankruptcy in 2009, more than a year after the failure of his Waterloo-based pigeon breeding business, Pigeon King International. The collapse of the business left hundreds of pigeon breeders on both sides of the border with thousands of worthless birds and debts of nearly $40 million.
 
The auction firm describes the property as “a newer house on 300 acres with lot of river front land, second house on property, pigeon coops --- ideal land for retreat, plenty of hunting.”
 
Creditors identified the sale of Galbraith’s home near Cochrane as a top priority at a January meeting in Kitchener. A document Galbraith supplied to the trustee estimates the property’s net realizable value at $300,000. He and his companies owe creditors tens of millions of dollars and his personal home was his only apparent personal asset.
 
The Waterloo Regional Police Service’s fraud squad and the RCMP have been investigating Galbraith and his former business since 2008. No charges have been laid. Police say the investigation is ongoing. BF