Newmarket locals Andrew Chiasson and his partner, Luisa Yepes, have been working tirelessly to locate their pet bird who got loose this past weekend.
The bird, a budgie named Grim, has been their pet for five years. He escaped about 3 p.m. last Saturday from their home in the area of Cherrywood and Silverbirch drives, near the intersection of Davis and Longford drives.
Described as grey and blue in colour, Grim can be identified by a blue mark on his nostrils, giving his beak a dark blue shade. He sports black dots around the white colour of his face, a callused beak and what Chiasson describes as a “smile line”.
Chiasson has been out in this week’s below negative temperatures posting flyers around Newmarket in hopes that Grim may be located and returned.
“I have gone out every single day and posted flyers. I don’t drive, so I have been doing this all myself, on foot, in the area,” he says.
“I would say I have done somewhere around 60,000 steps this week, just hours and hours in the snow, on my hands and knees digging through bushes. He's very special to us.”
The couple is offering a $200 reward for Grim if found, with Chiasson saying they would honour the price for the budgie even if found deceased.
An actor and voice actor by trade, he shared with NewmarketToday the loving connection he’s had with Grim over the past five years.
“He was in an incredibly loving home and I was his favourite person in the world. He listened to me practise my voices and he was very happy,” Chiasson said.
“(Grim’s) voice has gotten to be a very unique blend of different cartoon voices because I talk to myself so much for work. We just had an incredible, unique relationship.”
If you suspect you have located or may have seen Grim, you can reach out to Chiasson at 905-955-8344.