Pigeons no riskier than other forms of farming says farmer

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

by DAVE PINK

A Waterloo area farmer agreed with Arlan Galbraith in Kitchener Superior Court Thursday that there was no guarantee of a profit from raising pigeons.

Farming is a risky business, said Ken Hoffman, who also sells cattle from his property near Heidelberg. “I’d never seen, as a marketer of livestock, that we would be sharing the risk with the buyers,” he said.

Hoffman was the only witness called by Galbraith in his defense against a criminal charge that he defrauded the investors in his Pigeon King International business of millions of dollars. Galbraith was in the business of selling breeding pairs of pigeons to people with the promise that he would buy back the offspring at a set price.

Hoffman testified that he paid $125,000 for 250 pairs of birds in September 2007, money that was lost when Pigeon King went bankrupt in June 2008. It was just a business deal that didn’t work out, he said. “I shared the pain of a business loss, but I never had any feelings of revenge, but I know others did,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman admits that he should have done more research on the pigeon business and found out where the end market for the birds would be. “I thought a bit about it. Perhaps I should have been more technical in my research.”

Still, Hoffman said he retains a favourable impression of Galbraith and would probably have continued working with him after his initial 10-year contract expired.

However, under cross-examination by Crown attorney Lynn Robinson, Hoffman was reminded that during a 2008 interview with the police he conceded that the Pigeon King business probably wouldn’t last more than five years. “When you bought in you believed that you could get five good years out of it,” Robinson said. Hoffman did not disagree.

“When I made the investment I looked at the worst case scenario,” said Hoffman. “It was a unique business.”

Galbraith had also been facing four charges under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, but two of those charges were dropped Thursday. He remains charged with obtaining property by false pretences and failing to attend a meeting of his creditors.

On Monday, the 14-member jury is expected to hear closing statements from both Galbraith and Robinson. BF