Emu's fate angers US owner AN emu has died in suburban New York, but police and the big bird's owner disagree on how he met his end. Suffolk County Police claim the family pet, named Emu, was alive when they pulled him out of a canal. But its owner, Steven Weinkselbaum, known as "The Steve Irwin of Long Island," and who has been in trouble with authorities previously for keeping eight alligators and other creatures in his house, believes police killed his feathered friend. Mr Weinkselbaum, who raised the emu from a chick and kept it in an enclosure in his suburban Long Island home's backyard, could be right. Video footage on New York newspaper Newsday's website of the canal rescue shows Emu alive in the water with a rope and catch pole around his neck, but later when they pull him out, the bird appears lifeless. "The officers told us that the emu was alive and returned to the owner, but the owner is disputing that and said the emu was dead and we killed it," a Suffolk County police spokesperson told AAP on Thursday. The drama began on Monday morning when a neighbour alerted Mr Weinkselbaum's son, Steve, that Emu had escaped from the family home and was in the street. They cornered Emu, but he fell into the canal. Steve, according to Newsday, said Emu may have been choked by the catch poles. Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said while he did not agree with it, it was legal for Mr Weinkselbaum to own the emu and keep it in a backyard enclosure. This was despite the Weinkselbaum's home, in the village of Lindenhurst on the southern shore of Long Island, being in what police and Mr Gross described as a heavily residential area. Mr Gross said he believed the Weinkselbaums own one other emu. Mr Weinkselbaum has been in hot water with authorities in the past, with Mr Gross and a team of officers entering the home in 2006 after people at a bus stop near the house saw boxes marked "live animals" entering the home. "It was bizarre," Mr Gross said. It was like a jungle in his house. There were actually sounds of the jungle and so much vegetation we could hardly move. One of my officers yelled out 'Chief, watch out above you!' I look above me and suspended in plexiglass is a crocodile right above my head. We had geckos jumping on us and the plants as we walked in. There were electric eels. It was all illegal. He didn't have any permits. The eight alligators, a Burmese python, electric eels and other animals were removed and Mr Weinkselbaum was charged with 13 counts of animal cruelty. Mr Gross said there was an attempt to remove the emus, but Mr Weinkselbaum took legal action and proved the emus were exotic birds, not livestock, so he could keep them. Mr Weinkselbaum was overseas when Emu escaped on Monday and attempts by AAP to contact him have been unsuccessful. Mr Gross said he did not know how Emu died, but he was "hearing all sorts of things." "One of my officers went to the area, waved down one of the local police officers, and said 'What's going on with the emu?' and he said 'It's captured and has been returned to his owner'," Mr Gross said. But, returned to his owner dead or alive? We didn't know until later on it was dead. Suffolk County Police said it was case closed. "It's done, because there's nothing criminal about it," the police spokesperson said. I guess if this guy at the end of the day claims we killed the bird, I guess he could sue the department.