Birds Make out Like Bandits

Pets are like family members. Their loyalty and love are consistent, and they expect no reward other than an extra serving of food or an affectionate pat or caress from those who care for them.

Some pets, however, are very rewarded for their love and fidelity. The lucky few often belong to very wealthy people who have amassed riches but not family (at least not family they are interested in rewarding monetarily!) and are anxious to provide handsomely for their animal friends after they pass from this Earth.

Manhattan entrepreneur Leslie Ann Mandel, for example, who passed away this June at age 69, left $100,000 to her birds. In her will, she lovingly listed each of her 32 cockatiels by name: Wheetie, Port, Cubby, Max, Baby, Pumpkin, Tattoo, Eva, Dragon…  and on and on it went. Not one feathered friend was overlooked, as the New York Post reported.

Her son will manage the lucky avians’ windfall, and Mandel requested the birds “continue to live in the aviary” of her $4,000,000 East Hampton, New York, home after her death.

The birds will “continue to live in the aviary” of her $4,000,000 East Hampton home.

She also offered detailed instructions for the birds’ care and maintenance. “It is my wish that the birds be fed and the building cleaned each Monday and Thursday and their food shall be purchased from Avi-Cakes (a brand of natural bird feed), carrots, water and popcorn,” the will stated.

One can only guess how many happy tweets the birds sent out in celebration.

Other pets have lucked out over the years, no doubt to the surprise of a few anxious relatives when the wills of the deceased were read.

$65 Million to a German Shepherd
In 1992 German countess Karlotta Liebenstein left more than $65 million to Gunther III, her German Shepherd. When Gunther III died, his offspring, Gunther IV, inherited the doggy “estate” — then worth $200 million. It has since grown, reportedly, to $372 million. Gunther IV is also the proud canine owner of several villas in Italy and the Bahamas.

$30 Million to Precious Pooches
Talk show host and actress Oprah Winfrey has reportedly set up a $30,000,000 trust fund to care for her many precious pooches should they outlive her. The amount of her bequest confirms her love and devotion to her four-legged friends.

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$13 Million to a Stray Cat
When property owner Maria Assunta died in 2011 at age 94, she left her $13 million estate to Tommaso, a young stray cat she had rescued. The lucky kitty, who probably hopes he has nine lives in which to enjoy his windfall, also inherited properties in Rome, Milan, and Calabria, Italy.

$12 Million to a Maltese Terrier
When convicted tax evader and “Queen of Mean” Leona Helmsley died in 2007, she left $12 million to Trouble, her Maltese terrier. Trouble died in 2010; it is unclear to whom she bequeathed her inheritance, which was earned just by being a good doggy and friend to the infamous hotelier.

$3 Million (and a Mansion) to a Chihuahua
When Gail Posner, a Miami Beach socialite, died in 2010, she left behind a $3 million trust fund and a mansion in Miami Beach to her beloved pet Chihuahua, Conchita. She didn’t forget to reward Conchita’s two “siblings”: a Maltese terrier named April Maria and a Yorkshire terrier named Lucia. Posner’s son, Brett Carr, received $1 million upon his mother’s death. Not so shockingly, Carr contested the will.

$100,000 to a Shar-Pei and Other Pooches
Tobacco heiress Doris Duke, who died in 1993, left $100,000 in a trust fund to care for Rodeo, her beloved Shar-Pei, and several other dogs. The case made news because it was the first animal trust fund settlement in the state of New York.

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$80,000 to 3 Dogs
After fashion designer Alexander McQueen committed suicide in 2010, friends and acquaintances were shocked to learn that of the $16 million fortune he had amassed, he’d bequeathed almost $80,000 to his dogs, Minter, Juice and Callum. That was the same amount he had left to each of his housekeepers and assorted family members. The money was to be put in a trust fund to care for the dogs for the rest of their lives.

$27,000 to a Tortoise
Miss Foyle, as Christina Foyle was known, was heiress to the famous London booksellers W & G Foyle, Ltd. When she died in the late ‘90s at age 88, she left behind nearly $27,000 to her 50-year-old pet tortoise, Silverstone, whose net worth today is reportedly $200,000. This is no doubt due to shrewd, if slow, investing.

Indoor Tree House and Baby Food for Life to a Cat
Singer Dusty Springfield, whose big hit was “Son of a Preacher Man,” stipulated in her will that her beloved cat, Nicholas, was to live in a 7-foot indoor tree house and continue to eat only American baby food. She also wished that her cat be “married” to an English blue breed cat belonging to Springfield’s friend Lee Everett-Aiken. When Springfield passed away at age 59 from breast cancer, her wishes for her beloved tabby were fulfilled by Everett-Aiken.