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http://www.latimes.com/features/pri...-parrots29jul20
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Plenty to Squawk About
Exotic Birds Emerged as the Fastest-Growing Pet Choice in the '90s. Now
Abandoned Parrots Fly Wild Throughout Southern California. Why Polly Needs
Better Protection
By Mira Tweti, Mira Tweti is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.
CA - On any given day, sounds of the jungle can be heard from a number of
places in Los Angeles -- a large ficus near the Westside Pavilion, or among the
trees in Mar Vista, Venice and West Hollywood's Plummer Park. Many residents
are aware of their boisterous avian neighbors: wild flocks of little
yellow-chevroned parakeets, large scarlet macaws from South America, cockatoos
from Indonesia and Australia, lilac-crowned parrots from Mexico, red-masked
parakeets and others -- all members of the parrot family. Flying low in the
sky, their mega-decibel squawks are unmistakable.
California is now home to at least 10 breeding species of parrots, according to
ornithologists Bill Pranty of the Archbold Biological Station in Florida and
Kimball Garrett of the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. Based on extensive
research, they estimate that nearly 7,000 parrots are living wild from San
Francisco to San Diego, and 20,000 are flying around cities throughout the
country. Florida, in fact, may now boast the most diverse group of exotic
parrots in the world.
It's quite a sight to witness these colorful flocks in flight or roosting in a
tree, but there's a troubling fact behind this phenomenon -- all of those wild
birds were once pets. Exotic birds were America's fastest-growing pet choice in
the 1990s. Their numbers have grown -- according to pet industry research --
from an estimated 11.6 million at the decade's outset to 40 million today,
compared with 77.6 million cats and 65 million dogs. The exponential growth
might have something to do with the nation's two largest pet store chains,
Petco Animal Supplies Inc. and PetsMart Inc., which started selling birds
during the '90s.
But once the birds are brought home, owners quickly discover that parrots --
though smart and affectionate -- make terrible pets. Consequently, they are
being set loose at alarming rates, despite the illegality of releasing
nonnative birds in the U.S. Parrots now appear to be the fastest-growing group
of unwanted pets, as evidenced by the wild flocks and the number of avian
rescuers that are cropping up.
Some action is clearly needed. Wild parrots are among the most endangered group
of birds on the planet. Now, parrots bred for the pet industry in the U.S. --
unable to be repatriated in the wild because their survival skills aren't
developed -- could be euthanized in captivity to reduce the number of unwanted
birds.
Polly doesn't need a cracker. Polly needs protection.
Prrot people will tell you there is nothing like them. The birds are loving,
caring and can engage in conversation. Parrot caretakers gladly cut up
vegetables and fruit, boil beans and pamper their birds with expensive toys.
Women who own parrots have been known to break up with longtime boyfriends
rather than give up their jealous bird.
But while parrots make great companions, they can be notoriously difficult. The
Humane Society of the United States considers parrots wild animals and
advocates not keeping them as pets. Breeders say that pet store employees are
able to socialize the birds, but few stores encourage workers to play with
animals when they could be stocking shelves or helping customers. If constant
and consistent socialization is not reinforced, no matter how young birds are
taken from their parents, they will revert to wild behavior, some of which
never subsides. For example, the majority of parrots will bite the hand that
feeds them for their entire lives. It's not something that can be trained out
of them completely.
While parrots have the intelligence of a 5-year-old child, their maturity lags
behind. "It wants your attention, is demanding and immature like a 2-year-old
for 50 years," says one bird lover who decided not to get a parrot.
James Serpell, director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and
Society at the University of Pennsylvania, did his PhD dissertation on lorikeet
parrots and lived with them in the wild in Australia and Indonesia. "Parrots
are the primates of the bird world," Serpell says. "They aren't content to sit
on a perch and sing. They actively want to go and manipulate objects all the
time."
Great athletes, parrots quickly become frustrated "perch potatoes" in
captivity. They do nothing all day but eat, sleep and wait for their human
flock to return. Many end up obese and with serious behavioral problems such as
screaming, biting and self-mutilation by plucking out their feathers. Some even
carve gashes in their chest when their feathers are gone.
Charles Munn, a leading avian conservationist, is considered the foremost
authority on macaw parrots. Munn, who has worked extensively in South America,
says being alone is the worst thing imaginable for a parrot, like solitary
confinement for a person. In fact, veterinarians regularly prescribe Prozac and
other drugs to stop abnormal behaviors that develop in parrots as a result of
confinement.
Walk into any large chain pet store and you will see why the pet industry is a
$30-billion business. You can find things such as oatmeal dog shampoo, perches
with suction cups so you can shower with your bird, and battery-operated,
sonar-activated water fountains so your pet always has a fresh-flowing drink.
Petco, launched in 1965, earned $1.3 billion last year. PetsMart, started in
1987, made $2.7 billion in the same period. The two chains are growing at
roughly the same rate, 60 stores each per year, and both now have about 600
outlets. California is home to the largest number of Petco and PetsMart stores.
Both companies sell a variety of pet birds, including finches, parakeets,
parrots and cockatiels.
The advocacy group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA,
documents complaints about the chains from customers and employees. Petco leads
with about 1,000 grievances since 1999, and PETA has become a shareholder in
the company so that it can obtain inside information on its practices. PetsMart
has had a much smaller number of complaints since 2001, covering similar
issues: problems with birds, overcrowding, filthy cages, untreated sick
animals, employees who don't care or are unqualified. But perhaps the thorniest
issue is the selling of unweaned birds.
Unlike chickens, which are born precocial -- covered in down, sighted, able to
walk and eat on their own right out of the shell -- parrots, cockatiels and
most other birds bred for the pet trade are born altricial -- completely
helpless, like human babies -- and need comparatively long-term care, anywhere
from several months up to a year, before they can fend for themselves. Breeders
hurry to move unweaned baby birds from their facilities into pet shops because
syringe feeding is a delicate and time-consuming process that hurts profits.
Professional aviculturists figured out how to cut the cost: Sell the birds very
young for half price to pet stores and let their staffs do the work. An
unweaned African gray parrot is $450 wholesale, for instance, compared to $800
to $900 for one that is weaned. Bird breeders make less money, but they no
longer have the burden of caring for those babies and can make room for more.
Retail pet stores, eager to lower their costs, also like the deal. "It's never
been about the birds," says Carla Freed, a Kansas breeder and researcher. "It's
always been about the money."
One longtime justification for selling birds so young is the misconception that
hand-fed birds make better pets, and that they have to be taken young to be
tamed. But one need only look back before the advent of the captive-breeding
industry, when all pet birds were parent-raised, to see the illogic of this
idea.
Rebecca Fox, a doctoral student at UC Davis' Psittacine Research project, has
done studies in which baby birds were raised by their parents but handled by
humans for 20 minutes a day after becoming cognitive at several weeks old. Fox
found that they were as tame as birds that were taken early from their parents
and hand-fed. The results clearly demonstrate erroneous breeding practices. "It
is absolutely not true that baby parrots need to be hand-fed or hand-weaned by
people to make good pets," Fox says.
Francis Battista of Kanab, Utah-based Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the
largest dog and cat rescue facility in the U.S., wrote about the situation last
fall in the organization's magazine: "Bird mills crank out thousands of parrots
at a time . . . Point of sale is typically a low-overhead, lightly staffed,
self-service pet or pet supply store . . . Syringe feeding, which continues
until they're old enough to eat on their own, is usually done by a rotating
staff of well-meaning, low-wage, undertrained, high school-age 'associates.'
The birds are then sold as 'hand-reared' or 'hand-raised,' evoking the image of
a kindhearted surrogate parent lovingly feeding them. In reality, the
unsuspecting buyer is purchasing an emotionally deprived creature whose most
intimate contact has been with a plastic syringe. This is not hand-rearing --
it's poultry farming."
Ross Pittman, manager of sales and procurement for Preferred Birds, a Milton,
Fla.-based breeding facility and distributor that supplies all of PetsMart's
birds, denies that there are "factory farms," though he admits shipping more
than 100,000 birds a year to pet stores around the country. He says parrots,
which are shipped unweaned, are only a small percentage of the total. But one
avian rescuer who discussed supplying PetsMart with adoptable pet birds, from
finches to parrots, was told that the 3,000 birds a year she offered would not
be enough to supply even three of its stores. Do the math: PetsMart is handling
more than 600,000 birds a year.
Lisa Bell, who worked for five years as a bird specialist and assistant manager
at Petco stores in Northern California, says: "If a bird came in on two
feedings a day, [the breeders] would say, 'In another three weeks it should be
weaned.' I found typically it needed four or five feedings a day. Usually it
was another two months instead of another two weeks." Bell took unweaned birds
home overnight to feed them so they wouldn't go hungry until the store reopened
in the morning.
But not all stores are staffed with conscientious workers. "They starved that
baby to death," says Kathy Buckler, referring to a caique parrot she saw at her
local Petco store in Round Rock, Texas. Buckler, a bird owner, discovered the
young parrot in extreme distress: "It was screaming from hunger for days, but
the breeder told them it was on two feedings a day, and that's all the food it
was getting." The bird was finally found dead by police in the store's freezer.
Many complaints about Petco from current and former employees across the
country have recounted the same alarming practice: being ordered to put sick
animals in the store freezer to kill them rather than have them humanely
euthanized, as is the law. "You can check any store at any time and get an
accurate count of what has died by just looking in the freezer," says a former
district manager for the chain.
"Their low-wage, poorly trained employees have not been trained to handle
exotic animals," says Matt Dorsey, spokesperson for San Francisco City Atty.
Dennis Herrera, who is suing Petco stores to stop selling live animals in San
Francisco County. The suit cites scores of animal deaths due to "cruel and
illegal treatment." "We're asking for money and the practices to stop,
permanently," says Dorsey, adding that complaints have continued to come in
since the lawsuit was filed.
"We have pictures of a freezer packed with animals that would blow your mind,"
says Vicky Guldbech, captain of animal-control services in San Francisco, who
wrote many of the citations against Petco. "There were boxes of animals lined
up inside the door. It was disgusting." Guldbech, who has seen as many as 50
dead birds in a Petco store freezer, says it would have been easy for employees
to have gotten an emergency euthanasia for the animals at any one of three
places locally, including a hospital near the store that is operated by the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"There is certainly a seedy underbelly to American aviculture," says Phoebe
Greene Linden, a widely respected breeder who is a co-owner of Santa Barbara
Bird Farm. "It's thriving, unfortunately, and it spreads disease, heartache and
sorrow."
The growth of commercial domestic bird breeding is due in part to the passage
of the Wild Bird Conservation Act in 1992, which closed the gates to the
majority of the 450,000 exotic birds a year that had been imported for decades.
Although hundreds of thousands of wild birds are still trapped aggressively and
sold to the pet trade every year, they are no longer coming into the U.S.
(though smuggling from Mexico remains a major problem).
California is the No. 1 state for exotic bird breeding for the nation's pet
trade; Florida is next, and Texas and the Southern states are producing more
birds every year. But the rapid growth of the domestic pet bird industry in the
last decade has produced dire consequences. Never allowed to flock, fly or
freely roam trees again, many of the millions of wild parrots brought stateside
before 1992 have been living out a bleak existence as captive breeders. Paired
off in barren cages, often warehoused without sunlight, each passing year of
their many decades-long lives is marked by watching their newly hatched young
taken for the pet trade. Unweaned, unfeathered and blind, the baby birds, like
other animals, can develop long-term behavioral problems as a result of being
rushed through their naturally long weaning process, according to Joy Mench, a
professor at UC Davis' Department of Animal Science.
The babies are taken as their parents fight to stop the breeders, some of whom
wear protective gear to bar the parent birds' onslaught. Lori Rutledge, who
runs Cockatoo Rescue and Sanctuary in Stanwood, Wash., once complimented a
breeder who kept his birds in large outdoor cages. "I said to him, 'Your birds
must absolutely love you for giving them this much space, fresh air and
sunshine.' He said, 'They think I am the devil. They hate me. I take their
babies. You should hear them scream.'"
A bill pending in the California Legislature, AB 202, sponsored by
Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro), would prevent the sale of unweaned
birds in pet shops. If it passes, it will be the first law in the U.S. to
protect baby birds. The bill has battled through half of the six hurdles needed
to pass, but it is getting pummeled by bird breeders and the pet industry
alike. Petco, for instance, opposes it. A letter from a Petco executive to
Corbett calls the sale of unweaned baby birds an "alleged problem."
Eighteen states, including California, already have some kind of law
restricting the sale of unweaned kittens or puppies. These laws protect the
basic right of a young animal to stay with its mother until it would leave her
naturally. Given the fragility of baby birds, the months it takes to wean them
and the complexity of feeding them, it is surprising that none of California's
current laws include them -- and this is the way professional aviculturists
want it.
The American Federation of Aviculture, widely recognized as the organization
that represents professional breeders, is opposed to AB 202. Though the Kansas
City, Mo.-based federation has a number of education- and conservation-related
endeavors, its primary purpose is to ensure that no regulations inhibit its
industry. AFA President Benny Gallaway says, "I have no doubt that some
unweaned baby birds are killed by people inadvertently, but it is also a matter
of economics at the individual level too, and I don't know [that] it's a huge
problem given the amount of the investment." Referring to the bill's primary
supporter, the Sacramento-based Animal Protection Institute, he says the bill
"is a knee-jerk reaction from a group with suspect motivations."
Originally written to preclude pet stores from having unweaned birds on the
premises, AB 202 has now been heavily amended to allow shops to have them but
not sell them until they are weaned. But enforcement could be problematic. For
example, both PetsMart and Petco already have policies regarding unweaned baby
birds: Petco does not allow them to be sold until they are weaned; PetsMart
does sell them, but Barbara Fitzgerald, senior vice president for store
operations, says that the company requires a minimum of three visits to the
store before customers can take the bird home and wean it themselves.
Even so, of two dozen PetsMart and Petco stores in Los Angeles and Orange
counties called randomly for this story, all but three said they would sell
their unweaned birds immediately. One PetsMart store in Orange County said an
unweaned bird could be taken home the same day, but it was store policy that
the 14-day return warranty would be nullified.
Most owners aren't willing to do what it takes to keep parrots happy. "For
every parrot out there with a good and responsible keeper, there are perhaps
hundreds that lead miserable lives; largely unloved and unwanted, kept for
their curiosity value or because they were just too expensive to throw away,"
says Serpell of the University of Pennsylvania. "Most people have no idea what
a huge practical and emotional investment these birds demand. They buy them
because they look exotic or cute, but have no intention of becoming their
partners in life." Many birds end up abused or neglected when owners try to
inhibit their natural, wild behaviors. They are kept under covers (birds will
usually stay quiet in the dark), hidden away in garages, closets or back rooms.
They are generally passed around to different family members or friends until,
finally, they end up in an avian rescue center.
Many rescuers say they predicted five years ago that they would be at maximum
capacity now, and they are. From one end of the U.S. to the other, rescue
facilities are overflowing with hundreds of unwanted pet birds. Fern Van Sant,
an avian veterinarian in San Jose, Calif., says she was forced into the rescue
business because pet birds were being left in her waiting room or on her
doorstep.
"People surrendering their birds often say the same thing," says Eileen
McCarthy, founder and president of Midwest Avian Adoption & Rescue Services
outside Minneapolis: " 'If I knew then what I know now, I'd never have bought
it in the first place.'"
According to the Humane Society, the number of relinquished birds has
dramatically increased, but the problem is invisible to the general public.
"It's not on the streets like cats and dogs," says one rescuer. And as more of
the '90s bird-boom pets wear out their welcome, they too will be given up or
simply let loose. Unfortunately, captive-bred birds cannot be repatriated in
the wild. If they're not at peak performance, fluent in their flock alarm calls
and other wild living skills, they can get nailed by predators.
While some in the pet bird industry are denying there is a problem, PetsMart is
financing two parallel studies to the tune of $100,000. In progress now, they
are examining why bird owners relinquish their birds, how many rescue centers
there actually are and how many birds they have taken in. UC Davis' Mench has
been contracted to handle part of the research, which will include a survey of
4,000 bird owners, while the Gabriel Foundation, an avian sanctuary and
adoption organization in Colorado, and Cheryl Meehan of OrangeWing Consulting
in Davis are handling the rescue end. First results are expected by midsummer.
PetsMart promotes the fact that the company policy is not to sell dogs or cats
because of the large numbers that are euthanized, and that the company has
helped more than 1 million animals get adopted. Store executive Fitzgerald says
they will do the same for birds if their survey shows there is a problem with
overpopulation. "I will tell you because of the legacy of this company, that we
will do the right thing based on the information that we see. As a company, any
pet that doesn't get placed and remain in a loving home troubles us."
Shawn Underwood, a communications representative at Petco, agrees. "We've had
this discussion internally from time to time -- 'Is it worth carrying birds?'"
Underwood says it could be financially worthwhile for Petco to offer birds only
for adoption, and that they may be forced to do so by consumers. Indeed, a
national online petition is being circulated to halt live animal sales at the
chain. "If a bird is adopted like a dog or a cat, [owners are] still going to
have to buy the supplies and feed," Underwood says. "If they have a positive
view of our store, we're likely to capture them as a customer, but if they
don't like us because of our policy, in this case because we do [sell] birds,
then we don't capture them. That's a cost factor to consider. If they boycott
us and force us into an economic decision, then that's the decision we'll
make."
In last December's issue of Oprah Winfrey's magazine, there was a lush home
décor layout featuring a Moroccan-style living room adorned with deep
jewel-toned silk pillows and palm fronds. The description read: "A few exotic
accents add to the enchantment: palms, brass trays, a bird in a gilded cage."
The bird was listed as if it were one more accessory and shown in an otherwise
empty Taj Mahal-shaped cage at the back of the room.
But even from its cage a fun-loving bird could do damage to that room: Empty
seed husks and flung fruit generally do not go well with silk pillows. Once the
bird is let out to play, as it should be a few hours every day, those palm
fronds are done for. Bird claws pull on fine fabric and bird poop doesn't look
great on them either. Plus, the numerous toys needed to enrich the bird's cage
would ruin the room's color scheme.
This illusion is carried into birds' cages, which are designed to cater to the
humans who buy them, rather than the birds that have to live in them. Since
there are no minimum requirements, all cages are designed arbitrarily and
intended to contain the bird in the least amount of space. Unfortunately, most
birds live their entire lives in the cage they were brought home in from the
pet shop. "You wouldn't keep a porpoise in a bathtub," says one pet bird owner,
but the equivalent is done to birds all the time. Most of this is lost on the
millions of people who think having a caged bird is a good idea.
At a recent pet adoption fair in Westchester, more than 85 adoption groups were
scattered in white tents on a park's rolling green lawns. The lone bird
adoption booth had a steady stream of interested attendees, and many had come
to the fair because they had heard there would be birds to adopt.
"Two or three people walked up with empty cages in their hands," says Parrots
First co-founder Frank Levine, "and one couple came with a cage about 18
inches-by-18 inches wanting to take home a macaw" -- a bird that can be 3 feet
long from head to tail. Levine explained to the couple that the cage was much
too small. "The husband says to me, 'That's OK, the tail will poke through.'"
Source: Los Angeles Times
July 20, 2003
Regards
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| Alex Clayton |
"Toucanldy" <toucanldy@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030721104108.28226.00000337@mb-m24.aol.com...
> http://www.latimes.com/features/pri...-parrots29jul20
> ,1,3441610.story
>
> Plenty to Squawk About
> Exotic Birds Emerged as the Fastest-Growing Pet Choice in the '90s. Now
> Abandoned Parrots Fly Wild Throughout Southern California. Why Polly Needs
> Better Protection
>
> By Mira Tweti, Mira Tweti is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.
> Source: Los Angeles Times
> July 20, 2003
>
>
> Regards
Tons of drivel, and flat out lies sniped:
How telling that CA should be the one to bring this up. This is very obvious
where this is going. We need to have "licensing" and "permits". After all it
will be "for the good". What it will really be is some politicians, in a
state that is at the point of bankruptcy because of incompetence, see a
great way to make some money.
How many human children in CA live in absolutely horrible conditions,
while the "social engineers" there spend billions? Yet suddenly they are
super worried about Parrots? This is a trial balloon. Next, if this gets the
right response will be "we need a new "agency" to control this problem, and
of course it will need funding, and we know where that will come from.
Thanks for posting this, you do a good job of watching for these things
"Toucanldy". If your a bird owner in CA you better speak up now, or soon
they will be at your door wanting to sell you a license for your bird.
--
"Things get better with age, I'm approaching magnificent"!
--
To see our Birds
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/bc/al...+Photos&.view=t
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