The man kept a cockatiel for a number of years, causing medical experts to speculate if it had caused his lung disease. Instead, some medical experts speculated Jeffrie Radford has a condition called "bird fancier’s lung" due to his pet parrot. Radford’s lawyer, Benjamin Hinchcliffe, made submissions to the court that toxins in his work environment likely caused his lung problems. The work exposures materially contributed to the cause of the lung disease," Hinchcliffe said in his submissions. Judge Spiller found that the medical evidence didn’t show that Radford had developed his lung disease from his work.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 08, 2026 23:57 UTC