A cockatoo has spent months 'doing bird' at Heathrow after being detained over a paperwork issue, his owner says.<br /><br />"Cheeky chap" Charlie, four, was supposed to be reunited with Jess Adlard, 33, in August.<br /><br />She moved from Pennsylvania in the US to the UK in November 2022 but had to leave her pet behind.<br /><br />Charlie was supposed to arrive nine months later - but was held at Heathrow over a missing form on landing.<br /><br />It's now been three months and the pet is still in confinement - leaving Jess, who spent £6,000 on his transit, worried.<br /><br />She said he has been banging his head against the cage and plucking his feathers - common signs of distress.<br /><br />Jess, a former pharmacy technician, said: "I suffer from anxiety and depression and Charlie really alleviates that.<br /><br />"My daily routine revolved around him it has really thrown me off. We haven't been able to see him but they sent us videos and pictures.<br /><br />"He has been banging his head against the cage wall and crying for me.<br /><br />"He has been plucking his feathers and asking if he is a good boy."<br /><br />Jess's husband Joe, 36, a customs clearance agent, flew out to the US to bring Charlie to the UK.<br /><br />But once they landed the cockatoo was held over a missing document, they say.<br /><br />Jess, from Loughborough, Leics., said: "They said the original export permit was missing - but it was with Charlie when he left the airport in the States.<br /><br />"It has cost us £6,000 to get him here.<br /><br />"We have sent picture copies over to them but they say they need to see the original but it was with Charlie.<br /><br />"We haven't heard anything from them since September."<br /><br />Jess bought Charlie, a rose-breasted cockatoo in December 2019 and said he is "a cheeky chap".<br /><br />She has been unable to see or speak to Charlie since he arrived in the UK and is pleading with officials to release him.<br /><br />Jess says staff at the private animal facility have been playing the movie Rio - about a talking bird - on a tablet to calm him.<br /><br />But she just wants him home.<br /><br />Jess said: "He is so cheeky and intelligent, he is funny and likes to dance.<br /><br />"If he ever does anything naughty and gets caught he will immediately say 'I love you'.<br /><br />"It is difficult to put into words how I feel when I think about Charlie coming home.<br /><br />"It is like Christmas and your birthday. I am tearing up thinking about it.<br /><br />"We want Charlie home. We have a beautiful home for him.<br /><br />"If there is a problem we need to rectify then why hasn't anyone been in contact with us."<br /><br />The Home Office said: "Wildlife entering the UK through the border is governed by strict domestic and international law.<br /><br />"Where required documentation isn’t presented, Border Force can seize pets.<br /><br />"We take the welfare of animals in our care seriously and those in our protection are looked after in suitable facilities by trained staff, with specialist veterinary care available if required."<br /><br />Jess and Joe have set up a GoFundMe to help cover their costs: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cnv2h-bring-charlie-home.
