by pchela » Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:02 pm
LiaraTivona wrote:pchela wrote:Here is something we definitely agree on. DON'T BUY A PARROT! I really think that most people should not have parrots.
I don't understand... I've been reading more and more from parrot enthusiasts and they all say parrots are wild and should not be kept as pets, but aren't these the same people who love to keep them as pets? Don't many even breed or buy bred parrots (as opposed to rescue only)?
It reminds me partly of the squirrel handler who said squirrels aren't good pets and he's an exception. Okay, I get that. But it also reminds me of another discussion on here comparing parrots to children. Since people aren't prepared for raising children and most get many things wrong, should we forget having children? Maybe switch over to a kibbutz-like system and only let child-care Ph.D.s raise the kids?
Children are humans and we are equipped to raise them properly. A mother develops natural maternal instincts. Suggesting that I might as well say that we shouldn't have children since we shouldn't have parrots is not a good comparison. Parrots are wild animals who are made for flying in wide open spaces. We take them out of the wild and bring them into our homes. What could be more opposite from what they have evolved to be? Even my vet tells me that with parrots, most everything is a guessing game because we just don't know enough about them. If we don't have the knowledge to take proper care of them, what gives us the right to keep them in captivity? There are people who take excellent care of their birds and I think that's awesome. Sadly, there are far more who don't either out of ignorance or negligence or just plain cruelty. The average person simply should not buy a parrot. Since we can not prevent just anybody from buying them, it would be better for the parrots if they just weren't available at all. I'd rather never have known the joys of keeping parrots if it meant that there were never any neglected, cage bound or abused parrots or that they were never hunted to near extinction for the pet trade. There are videos showing confiscated crates of African Grey parrots, half of the crushed and dead and the other half scared to death and dehydrated and probably mentally damaged for the rest of their lives all because somebody somewhere is willing to buy them so they can sell them as pets. The more I learn about them, the more I come to feel that they should not be pets. Since that is not realistic, I choose to try and educate anybody who is seeking out knowledge and to foster unwanted birds when I can and, yes, to talk people out of buying parrots if it is possible.
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
