Michael wrote:Why is is that suggesting to clip a parrot's wings is considered normal (even great advice in many cases) yet doing the equivalent of the same thing to a cat, dog, or human makes folks gasp?
And I don't wanna hear about "it's just like hair," "it is painless," or "they grow back." If we wanna nit pick, we could talk about gently tying a dog's legs together 24x7 for 6 months and then untie the rope just to do it all over again.
I don't think it's nitpicking to say breaking a dog's legs is
not the equivalent of clipping a bird's wings. The equivalent would be breaking the bird's wings. However, equating wing clipping to tying a dog's legs together 24/7 is a good comparison and I agree that both
should be equally outrageous and offensive to any humane individual. Sadly wing clipping is currently considered "normal" in the U.S. and while there is no excuse for it that's the reality. Some people clip for "safety" and some people clip for "convenience" but most people clip.
You, me, and others that advocate keeping flighted birds are in the minority in this country right now and we are fighting an uphill battle but it's one that needs to be fought. I am optimistic that one day wing clipping will be considered cruel and barbaric in the U.S. but it won't come without effort to educate people and I'm glad that someone like you has hundreds of videos of birds flying safely indoors to show people that with common sense and simple precautions it's totally fine.