A "Parrot Sanctuary"

A was browsing the web this evening when I came across this video:



Absolutely horrific. I've seen a lot of videos of animal neglect and abuse, but this really shook me up.

I decided to do some research on the place, and there is a lot of controversy.

The woman who runs this operation, she's on animal control. The person who is supposed to be defending our animals, is part of some of the worst cases of parrot abuse I have ever seen.

Doing research, I was directed to a Avian Avenue, a parrot forum who are in the midst of trying to shut down the sanctuary.

http://forums.avianavenue.com/controversial-animal-topics/62428-we-must-band-together-shut-place-down-graphic.html

Personal stories of people who know her...small birds are left out all year long with little protection from the elements, being killed and eaten by raccoons, being fed nothing but dog food, no toys, no fresh water, leaky ceilings, and only small space heaters to keep the larger birds warm during winter.

I even read that the woman lost a tent full of eclectus, because the heaters malfunctioned, causing the birds to die of heat.

https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=99317374781&topic=13555
https://s602.photobucket.com/albums/tt103/more_proof/

I really don't know what to do.

I want to also add, just as a warning, the photos in the bottom link provided are extremely graphic.

my god that is sad


dusty

Reason why I'm wary of many 'organizations' including PETA who kills more than saves.

PETA is not an animal welfare organization, it's an animal rights organization. Although they have moderated their public stance over time, their mission has little to do with saving animals and they have recklessly endangered them in the name of setting them free.

I hate to say it, but the good-old-fashioned organizations like the Humane Society and the SPCA don't do euthanasia because they think it is the best possible thing -- they have just been forced to accept that death is a lot less cruel than some existences, and that they have funding only to save the lives of some of the animals that they wind up with. Assuming the video is accurate, this illustrates a case where a prompt death might have been preferable.

Private no-kill shelters are a wonderful thing when they are well run, but it's not so easy to keep them going. I'm sure Vikki would have a lot to add here. The badly run ones aren't always or even usually that way because the founders set out to scam money out of folks, although there's always someone willing to find a way to turn a profit -- I think they often get overwhelmed and/or they lose funding, and the situation deteriorates. Also, some shelter situations are essentially a cover for hoarding, and it is pretty clear that animal hoarders lack the ability to perceive how bad the conditions they create are. They don't see what is right in front of them, their view of the world is as distorted as the 80lb anorexic who still thinks she's fat.

It's all very sad, but at the end of the day there are more companion animals around then there are homes which can and are willing to sustain them, including well-run rescues. It's not an easy problem to address.

People are working really hard on other forums to "fix" this.

I sent an email to the njspca, and they said "This is all false. We have been there numerous times with no violations. The birds are well taken care of."

That leads me to wonder what the standards are towards exotic birds rights are.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

I hate to say it, but the good-old-fashioned organizations like the Humane Society and the SPCA don't do euthanasia because they think it is the best possible thing -- they have just been forced to accept that death is a lot less cruel than some existences, and that they have funding only to save the lives of some of the animals that they wind up with.

Given the current economy, even no kill shelters are facing the very real possibility of euthanazing healthy animals. I know of a few private (good) shelters that are going to start euthanizing cats and dogs at the end of the year because adoptions are down and donations are down.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

Assuming the video is accurate, this illustrates a case where a prompt death might have been preferable.

I think this video's from 2009?

ScooterNScotty wrote:

It's all very sad, but at the end of the day there are more companion animals around then there are homes which can and are willing to sustain them, including well-run rescues. It's not an easy problem to address.

The No Kill movement disagrees that there are more animals than there are homes. I'm not sure. Part of the No Kill's view is that the AR people are putting false numbers out to push killing of the "homeless" instead of trying to find homes for the animals. I'm still out as to which side is putting out the real numbers, but here's some info:
http://www.nathanwinograd.com/

zazanomore wrote:

I sent an email to the njspca, and they said "This is all false. We have been there numerous times with no violations. The birds are well taken care of."

I haven't been able to see the video as I'm having band width problems right now. But some of the pics look oddly staged - like the very, very clean cage with the macaw and a dead rat. Also, I don't see any birds or birds in cages in the pics with the rat droppings on the floors. I'm wondering if this is a room that doesn't even contain birds?

Not justifying the place if it's bad, but saying to view with a critical eye. I've seen rats freely run through the aviaries and feeding out of bird bowls in the San Diego Zoo. On our last visit to the SD zoo, I saw a nest box on the great billed parrots with about an inch of dried poo covering one side. Some issues are just inherent to keeping large numbers of animals or certain types of animals.

Look at your cages. Is there an isolated picture that could be taken right now that could be construed as "filth", "neglect" and "abuse"?

Could this be a ruse to bring in money,many members of AA are talking of sending her money ,mostly the ARF's.

Well, I didn't pass judgment on the video, hard to tell if it was accurate or not. I did a double take when they claimed the food container was full of dog food -- hard to tell the difference between that and some of the extruded foods. But certainly there are shelter-cum-hoarding situations gone bad, if that particular place is one or isn't, doesn't really change the arguments.

Roz, I looked at that site, and I do agree that putting the egregious mills out of business would probably help make up the gap, but I'd need to see where he gets the figure of 23 million new homes per year. I also don't think it's reasonable, or even appropriate to expect someone who wants to raise a puppy of a specific breed to instead adopt a 7 year old dog with health and behavior problems. I've never bought a cat in my life, every single one has been a rescue of some variety. I don't want to be made to feel guilty because I don't have 6 instead of 3... And there is a bit of a problem with the math -- if there are 23 million new homes, 3 million rescues needing homes and 23 million + puppies and kittens which are currently filling those 23 million homes, somebody still winds up homeless. You can try to reduce the supply, but in the absence of doing that, either the rescue animal is homeless or the mill puppy is homeless -- somebody is still homeless. I have not met anyone that I can recall who has been sitting around saying, "I'd love a dog or cat but I just can't find one". So... it's not as simple as that.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

Roz, I looked at that site, and I do agree that putting the egregious mills out of business would probably help make up the gap, but I'd need to see where he gets the figure of 23 million new homes per year. I also don't think it's reasonable, or even appropriate to expect someone who wants to raise a puppy of a specific breed to instead adopt a 7 year old dog with health and behavior problems. I've never bought a cat in my life, every single one has been a rescue of some variety. I don't want to be made to feel guilty because I don't have 6 instead of 3... And there is a bit of a problem with the math -- if there are 23 million new homes, 3 million rescues needing homes and 23 million + puppies and kittens which are currently filling those 23 million homes, somebody still winds up homeless. You can try to reduce the supply, but in the absence of doing that, either the rescue animal is homeless or the mill puppy is homeless -- somebody is still homeless. I have not met anyone that I can recall who has been sitting around saying, "I'd love a dog or cat but I just can't find one". So... it's not as simple as that.

I love you! All those numbers thrown around boggle my mind and I never bother to sort through them. I'm not necessarily saying the No Kill movement is right. It's just out there giving an opposing viewpoint to AR. They're both throwing false/manipulated numbers around to further their particular agenda. I'm with you in taking info with a bit of skepticism and consideration for what position is being pushed.

Even though I tend not to "buy" pure breed dogs and cats, I agree there's nothing wrong with wanting, or actually, buying a puppy or kitten. I adopted a 5 yo St. Bernard from the pound a few years back. He had behavior problems. Yes, they could be fixed with a lot of training and consistency, but he was a real pain in the rear to deal with because he was older, set in his ways, and wasn't neutered until he ended up in the pound. I have 5 acres and it was a real problem trying to keep him on the property as he was obviously used to roaming. He was a sweet dog, but honestly, I was pretty relieved when he finally died and my burden to be on his behavior 24/7 was over. I will never get a dog over 1 year old again. Given my mix of animals and rural setting, I want puppies under a year old so I can easily mold their behavior how I want them. Same with the cats.

Wow SnS and PdB... I watched the video and looked at the pictures and had a thought, then started reading and one of you had the same thought. Then I wanted to reply to YOUR thought, but the other one had already done so... Essentially, the two of you have already had any conversation I can think of!

On AA there are first hand volunteers telling of the horrors of this place, and that they have contracted disease from working there. They also spoke of trailers heating to over 200 degrees loosing many, many birds. Wild animals dragging animals out of tents eating them and leaving pieces of them.



This place is every bit as horrible- and more then this video. Read up over on AA. Sadly, this place is living hell for many, many birds.

Julsiebean wrote:

On AA there are first hand volunteers telling of the horrors of this place.

what is AA?



dusty

Avian Avenue.

Hey dusty, it's a nother parrot forum, lots of us are on there, but some of the people are a little hard to take.I go on there to help newbies with their birds but this is my site to chat with my freinds. i have to watch what i say on there and am care not to get involved in some of their threads.

I was on that forum for a while and liked it quite a bit, but was having trouble keeping up!

i will just stay here amongst friends,..i like it here


dusty

Me too dusty,the only section i participate in is the amazon section.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

I was on that forum for a while and liked it quite a bit, but was having trouble keeping up!

Ditto!

dusty wrote:

i will just stay here amongst friends,..i like it here


dusty

And ditto!