Pigeon breeding company clipped by bankruptcy

"What once looked like a high-flying and profitable opportunity -- a business sold under the promise to save family farms -- has crashed to the ground. Arlan Galbraith filed for bankruptcy protection of his Pigeon King International pigeon breeding business June 17," writes Andrea Zippay of Farm and Dairy. (AP photo: Brad Doherty)

"In a letter dated June 17, Galbraith blamed fearmongers for the business's collapse and had this message for breeders who worked for him: 'Recently there has been more money going out of the bank than coming in, and there is nothing left. I have had to retain the services of a bankruptcy trustee to take over the affairs of the company. This means my hands are now ties and the trustee in responsible for everything.'"

The Rural Blog had an item about the supposed "Ponzi pigeons" on May 19. Washington, Iowa and Maryland issued a cease-and-desist orders to Pigeon King, which tagged itself as the world's second largest pigeon breeder. "Galbraith blamed those outsiders for '[eradicating] the confidence of everyone contemplating doing business with PKI and said widespread negativity in the media have prevented him from borrowing money or selling the business," Zippay writes. "Galbraith called his business 'dead in the water' and 'reduced to ashes by fear.'

To read Zippay's entire story, including Galbraith's letter to breeders, click here.