Rescue

"Rescue" is a word with many different meanings and the definition of what exactly constitutes "a rescue" or "rescuing" a parrot is a subject of hot debate among the animal community. When people find out that we are a Parrot "rescue" they often want to know what we are rescuing the birds from.
Our definition of rescue is removing a bird from a situation that presents immediate and quantifiable danger to the parrot's health or life. In some cases, this means paying a bird's unpaid vet bills and giving it a place to stay so it will not be euthanized. Sometimes the birds are in situations where they in danger of dying due to environmental effects, physical abuse or untreated health problems.

It sounds quite impressive, but the reality of rescuing a bird is not very romantic. It generally involves laying in a layer of feces to cut a bird out of a cage and enduring the conditions that are putting the bird in danger. Those volunteers who participate in actual rescues have to endure a smelly, nasty, inclement, hostile and sometimes dangerous job. We are all grateful that we have members who will do this for the feathered lives who are stuck in these places.

Images from a rescue situation. The floor
was cleaner than the first time we arrived

Thankfully, most of the birds we are contacted about do not need "rescuing"... they need "rehoming". These birds come from homes where they receive at least good care, sometimes their diet isn't excellent, sometimes their vet care or grooming hasn't been as regular as it should be, but there is certainly nothing beyond benign neglect for them. Most people are surprised to find out that real "rescuing" is a small (but very important) part of what we do. Most of the birds in our care don't have severe issues - and those they do have can be modified with a little behavioral training.

So, if we're not "rescuing" these parrots, why do we have them?

Surrenders are normally one of a very few number of things. 90% of the birds surrendered to us fit into one of two categories.
1) "I didn't know what I was getting into"... it screams, it bites, takes too much time, takes too much money, chewed up my baseboards, I got married and it doesn't like my new spouse, I had a child and don't have the time. All of those are basically due to the fact that the person who purchased a parrot didn't do their research and find out what life with a parrot is really like. (If you'd like some insight you can click here.)
2) Unfortunate life circumstances. Home forclosures, loss of job, owner death, terminal/severe illness, sudden disability all qualify. Sadly with the recent economic down turn we are seeing a lot of beloved parrots who are surrendered because the people who own them no longer have anywhere to live themselves.

This is the day in/day out reality of our shelter. In response, we developed education, outreach and behavior modification services. We try to teach people about what to expect from a parrot before they buy one and if they've already bought one we try to help them understand the kind of care it takes. If they have behavioral issues, we reach out and try to help them work with the behavior. We've realized that it is better for a bird to stay in a good home rather than come to our shelter and have to find another one!

A Macaw that had never been handled learns to step up

Of course, sometimes behaviors can't be altered enough to suit a person, or sometimes the situation (like those in category #2) is out of everyone's control. Eventually we'd like to no longer have a job. That's the goal of any reputable shelter - to see a day where no homeless animals exist! That day seems far off, but we hope that one day it happens.