by Pajarita » Tue May 21, 2019 8:10 am
I am sorry, I used to believe that sanctuaries were the answer but I no longer do. If a rescue is a bad place for a pet parrot, a sanctuary is worse. Let me explain. I think a sanctuary is a great place for ex-breeders, zoo parrots, aviary species or any other parrot that has not imprinted to humans but, for a pet bird that is used to a loving human, to live without a human of its own is not a good life because most of them will not bond to another bird so, if they have no human, they have nobody and that means misery to a parrot. But, assuming they do get used to it, what are the chances of them remaining in the same situation until the end of their lives? Not good, I am afraid. Look what happened at Coombs. It started out wonderful - lady was committed, love the parrots, husband had money and was generous to his wife, etc. But, then, the lady got old and the whole thing started going downhill, then she died and the husband did not want to continue paying so he kind of washed his hands of the hundreds of birds that were in there. In came the ASPCA and Greyhaven to rescue the birds (rescue them from the sanctuary, mind you!) and the rescue people has spent a loooooong time rehabilitating these birds because they had been so severely neglected not only health wise but also from sheer lack of human company and interaction. And they still have over 70 birds that only now are ready for adoption - after more than 2 years!
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