Rmoses wrote:Navre wrote:You're missing the point. I give them polite, informative answers, but sometimes I feel like I'd like to say the other thing.
And it is often annoying when people come in so concerned about superficial things like a bare chest. It stands in the way of them finding the best bird for them. In reality, most people who are very concerned about these things never adopt.
I do agree that education is one of our most important functions. It's important to remember that all the real parrot experts have hollow bones, and feathers.
Is not giving polite, informative answers, but feeling like saying the other thing being being disingenuous? Maybe what you would like to say is exactly what they need to hear. If I see a bird with a bare chest and you just tell me it is superficial and nothing to worry about, I see a bird that has had a plucking problem and don't know what caused it and if it will return when I get it home. It takes a certain type of person to care for a disabled animal or person and not everyone is that type. Don't put them down because they are not that type. If you tell me what you want me to know so that I will buy the bird, then then I'm not getting the whole story.
I am not trying to put you down, you are obviously an intelligent and caring person,(people), but don't berate me if what I want seems superficial to you. Maybe if you say what you really want to say, then I will see that it is superficial and with the added information I can make a better choice.
Rick
Well, the thing is Rick that nobody knows why some birds pluck and others don't and nobody knows if the bird will keep on doing it or get better either. John tells them that captivity is real hard on parrots, even under the best of circumstances, and, when the care they get is inadequate, some of them pluck - and that is, pretty much, the only thing anybody can say about plucking. Plucking is not a disability and plucking birds don't really need anything different than birds with perfect plumage so it's just a matter of looks and, beauty being truly in the eyes of the beholder, it is a fact that, after a while, you don't even see the bare spots or bad plumage any longer. You just see a bird you love - and, in your eyes, this beloved bird is beautiful! I met this lady who had gotten a dog (looked like some sort of beagle mix) from Indonesia whose face had been mutilated (she was going to become food but escaped and ended up in a rescue). The dog was literally missing parts of her face and was going to require surgery to correct some of it (her nose had to be fixed, half of it was missing and they wanted to make sure the scar tissue was not going to end up blocking the passages) and there were people there who kept on throwing sideway glances her way the way people do when there is a person or an animal with some sort of deformity but do you know what her owner kept on saying to me? "Isn't she just BEAUTIFUL? Isn't she?!" And I agreed wholeheartedly, she was a beautiful dog with the sweetest, most melting eyes you could ever imagine!
Volunteers at rescues have to deal with a large range of people. They all call themselves animal lovers but not all are; some are just looking for the bargain and not to benefit the animal. And, of course, these people don't want the ones with the 'defects', they want the prime specimen at a discount because, in reality, they are animal enjoyers and what they love is not the animal itself but what the animal can do for them - and these are the ones that have expectations that no parrot can fulfill: beauty, speech, no screams, no plucking, no bites, low maintenance, etc. Education is key but for education to 'do its work' you need to start with love for the animal.