Newspaper Article

Finding homes for unwanted parrots

Maclean, Mairi

2004

Overview

\"He was just a ball of feathers, hissing at you,\" says Nancy Brink, recalling Zeus's erratic, neurotic behaviour when he first arrived at her \"foster home\" early last May. She'd found out about him from Feathered Friends Avian Rescue and Resource Association (FFARRA), an Edmonton group devoted to rescuing unwanted pet parrots and to finding loving homes for them. Another important consideration is the long lifespan of parrots. [Isabelle Kamal] has received a parrot because the owner died. \"With the various things that happen in our lives, the relationships, where we live and the rest of it, it takes a big commitment to bring a large bird along through the ups and downs,\" [Ken Keeler] points out. He sees up to three birds a day as part of his practice and is noticing parrots becoming more popular, although not as common as dogs, cats and \"pocket pets\" such as hamsters and rabbits. The birds will often come in for routine grooming -- nail trimming or wing clipping and nutritional management. But Keeler cautions that if owners only feed their parrots seed, if they don't clean up the cage often enough, if they use sandpaper perches or don't cover the cage at night so the parrot can get enough sleep, \"all these things can cause stress and the bird can start to act ill.\"

• Publisher: Postmedia Network Inc
• Subject: Brink, Nancy / Kamal, Isabelle / Keeler, Ken