Pigeon King to face creditors this month

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

© AgMedia Inc.

by BETTER FARMING STAFF


Ontario’s former, self-named pigeon king must face his creditors in Kitchener this month.
 
BDO Canada Limited, the trustee of Arlan Galbraith’s personal estate, will hold a first meeting of creditors on Jan. 27 at Bingemans conference centre. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. Galbraith’s certificate of filing a bankruptcy order states that he must attend the meeting.

The Superior Court of Justice in Bankruptcy and Insolvency in London declared Galbraith personally bankrupt in December. Galbraith, abandoned a contest the personal bankruptcy and did not attend the Dec. 16 court proceedings.

The bankruptcy came more than a year and a half after Galbraith placed his Waterloo-based Pigeon King International Inc., in bankruptcy. BDO is also the company’s bankruptcy trustee.

The PKI breeding scheme offered pigeon breeding pairs for as much as $500 and bought back offspring for up to $50 each. Its June 2008 collapse left hundreds of pigeon breeders on both sides of the border with thousands of worthless birds and debts of nearly $39 million.

James Wiersma of Fisherville, Ontario, one of four creditor-appointed inspectors in the PKI company bankruptcy, initiated personal bankruptcy proceedings against Galbraith in November 2008.

Documents posted on BDO’s website list Galbraith’s personal assets to be $376,150 — with his property in Cochrane, Ontario being listed as the primary asset, valued at $300,000 — and indicate he owes former Canadian pigeon breeders more than $573,000 and U.S. breeders more than $122,000.

This is Galbraith’s second personal bankruptcy. In 1981 he received an unconditional discharge following the collapse of a meat business he ran with his brother. At that time he listed assets of $470,000 and liabilities of $410,000. BF