Pbs special----another aspect

[Dave007]

Last night's show was excellent. Very well done but it may have left people feeling guilty about owning a perrot in the first place. This is a link to a parrot documentary also done by PBS and NATURE and it shows another aspect to owning a parrot. It's also well done and the commentator is a very well known person who's done many nature shows about animals in the wild. If you watch nature shows you'll recognise the face and the voice.

I agree with all that was said about the reasons why parrots shouldn't be gotten. I agree about how parrots wind up being in shelters. I know that many parrots are bought on a whim for many different reasons. The big one is talking. It's been said that parrots, especially greys can comprehend what a person is saying or doing and will respond. That's true but what about all the other parrots that don't have the ability to talk in the human language. Are they less intellegent? I've told people that the real challenge is learning the bird's language. I've said it over and over. Very little responses ever come back.

There's a huge reason why greys are the most popular parrot that's sold. I'll let you figure that out.

I believe that I've made many people very happy that they bought parrots from me. I've also spoken about preowned parrots and why people should consider them. I have preowned parrots. The big difference is that I don't use the word*rescued*. I'm more comfortable with using the correct word *adopted* My adopted parrots couldn't live with the previous owners for different reasons. None were abused. I don't believe that there's so many people that are *rescueing* birds. I do know they're *adopting* them from less ideal situations. I don't believe that so many people have the ability to handle birds that are *rescued* especially with bad aggressive problems. Those types of birds no matter what the serious problem is wind up in those shelters. I have a bird here who I know for a fact couldn't be handled by most people in the past. When I took him, I *rescued* the owners. The word *rescued* has spread like wild fire.

Owning a parrot has brought much happiness and fulfillment in people's lives. The parrots have responded in a positive way.

Another big problem when dealing with unknowing owners is trying to convince them that the parrot is a wild animal. Many really don't care nor do they believe me simply because of the way a bird behaves in the home. Actually, they don't wanna believe it.

I wrote this post out before. I said even more in that post but when I went to post it. It totally got erased. So, this post is the short version.

The show link I'm posting can be seen immediately. No waiting for it to broadcast.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Dave007

[danmcq]

Nice video Dave. Thanks for sharing the other side to balance things out. I do remember you writing this in the past. It's sad when things are not made sticky and just move down the list in to oblivion and is very difficult to find. I am a true believer that you set the standard of what a "Good Breeder" should be. The breeders we got Dayo from were very attentive and guided us in every step of the way. I also suspect much like you are, they would always want updates on how things were going and of course were always available for a phone call when we needed them.

 

I do like "Adopting" as the term rather than "Rescuing". It takes on the meaning of you are now their family, not just a bird you took in to help out until they can find their next resting spot and hopefully their forever home..

Edited November 14, 2013 by danmcq

[Timbersmom]

Enjoyed the video! Thanks for sharing. I've always thought I'd like to have a "baby" at some point. Seeing videos like this and the one they aired last night makes me lean toward adopting if I succumb to MBS!

[Luvparrots]

Thanks Dave.

[judygram]

I enjoyed that video better than the one on last night, so glad you dug this one up and shared it with us and I agree adopting is a better term for it.

[Parrot Lady]

thanks Dave great video I'am all for adopting another grey , I'am on the lookout for one

[JeffNOK]

Thanks Dave, after watching the PBS film I started feeling very guilty and had several conversations with friends and family about whether I was contributing to something awful in the life of parrots. I appreciate the balance you provided.

[birdhouse]

I'm so glad you posted this, Dave. I think the liberal use of the word "rescue" is pretty damaging for secondhand critters' chances at a new life. People hear actual rescue stories & start to think it would be beyond them to cope w/the challenges those critters might bring. So they decide they should instead take in a bright shiny new baby when there are so many adults who just need a new home.

 

I've always thought of bringing any pet into the family as an adoption, anyway. Cute & cuddly, sick & snarling, doesn't matter. They deserve a life long commitment for their own love, space & considerations according to their own special needs & gifts no matter what that might turn out to be.

 

Rescuing an animal, to me, is about taking in one who has come from a bad/harmful environment &/or comes w/known physical or emotional issues. This really isn't for everyone. It's usually far kinder to recognize it to avoid causing more well intentioned damage. So I think it's important to make a distinction.

 

But rehoming, to me, is just that. An animal who has lost its *home* & needs new caregivers. Many of these were loved & well treated until something changed their caregivers' ability to provide for them. Given a chance, so many of would transition "easily" into another good home.

 

I think it's sad that many people don't distinguish between adopting rescued vs rehomed critters. So many that shouldn't be are in need just because people don't realize how much joy a secondhand critter would give back if only they got a second chance to be loved.

[Inara]

Saw this video in the past and thought it was very good. While I have not yet seen the PBS Rescue series (so I can't comment on it), I agree that there is a very distinct difference between adoption/rehoming and rescuing. My first Grey, a CAG came to me in the late 70's literally half dead, abused, neglected and with physical problems that haunted him for the rest of his life even after the psychological ones abated. He was wild caught, and the rest is a long and not very pretty story. I lived in a sparsely populated western state, but had a good support system in the local falconers, and my vet who was also a falconer. Suffice it to say having obtained an Amazon a few years earlier that was ready to be destroyed and who was in the process of destroying himself, I feel strongly about what constitutes rescuing.

 

My beautiful Inara was an easy "open adoption" between the people who had bought her as a hatchling, hand fed her, kept her until she reached two years old and me. For various reasons they put her up for sale via Craigs List rather than back through the bird store/breeder they had gotten her from. I have no idea why they didn't go back to her breeder first.

 

My own opinions are very strong about choosing adoption over buying babies from breeders, and about breeding practices with such an intelligent species who have been shown to grieve for their babies and eggs. However, certainly there are reputable breeders in this world who do not engage in the "poultry mentality," and provide ethical treatment of their breeding pairs, as well as contribute to conservation and education. It would be lovely if (as in the dog world) that reputable breeders would have purchasers sign contracts that would cause them to return the bird(s) to the breeder if they ever decide to surrender them. I do understand that this is simplistic thinking, but you all understand what I mean.

 

At this juncture in my life, I knew that while I wanted to give a bird a home that was looking for a new one, that I wanted a well-socialized, healthy bird but did not want to purchase a baby from a breeder. This as pale as it sounds, helps assuage my own heartstrings when it comes to all the members of the beautiful parrot kingdom who are living their lives in captivity and/or continue to be trapped, sold, and smuggled using unscrupulous methods. I can assist them by donating financially to sanctuaries, and conservation efforts, but by going to a breeder (even a reputable one, and this is for me, I'm not being judgy here) I felt that I would be contributing to the continuation of the endless chain of captive birds. It's somewhat of a catch-22 situation, and one for which there are no easy and pat answers.

 

My rescue birds in the early half of my life, were some of the best teachers I ever had. My little chosen girl has reaped the benefit from their lessons to me, and has already begun teaching me new ones (like the fact that in my old age I'm apparently becoming a helicopter mom!).

 

If you liked the above video, you may enjoy reading Of Parrots and People: The Sometimes Funny, Always Fascinating, and Often Catastrophic Collision of Two Intelligent Species

 

EDIT:

<snip>.. I've told people that the real challenge is learning the bird's language. I've said it over and over. Very little responses ever come back. </snip

 

Dave, I could not agree more. 20+ years of living with parrots in the first half of my life, and I have (knock on wood) not been bitten once despite the fact that both of my first birds were considered unworkable/unhomeable. This, I believe is because of 1) not asking what they could do for me, but rather respecting them as birds first and companions 2nd, and 2) paying really close attention to the language of each particular bird, both non-vocal and vocal language. Currently, my gal Inara who has figured out that when our dog barks, that it is a warning/alarm now will give a little bark sound as a warning before an impending beak thump. She gets beaky if she is, tired, hungry, or nervous. Fascinating, that she gives the little puppy sounding bark now instead of her native sound.

 

Naturally, I have now probably jinxed myself and will be a new member of the "Bite Me!" club...

Edited November 18, 2013 by Inara
because I apparently proofread better after hitting "send" :D