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As we review the year and embark upon a new one, I ask you to contemplate an important question. Where will you be 25 years from now? In my fondest dream, if life would be kind, I will be 82 years old and still be active and capable. The genes say it might happen. By that time, hopefully, I will have finally retired, but the thought of that is a distant vision and it is hard for me to imagine life without deadlines. Though definitely past my prime in the year 2032, may I still be surrounded by the birds I love, many of which will have hit the stride of their middle years. To realize my dream, I will have to work at it every day until then. There is no question that I will have to pay attention to my health, and most importantly I will ask for blessings to help make it happen.
The point of this contemplative exercise is the realization that, with love, proper housing and nutrition, and a generally healthy and supportive environment, our pet parrots are destined to be long-lived creatures. The daunting fact is that in many instances, the juvenile parrot purchased in 2007 will outlive its owner or favorite person. I have a number of birds, and I assumed the responsibility for their lifelong care as part of the dream, knowing that it was a lifetime commitment, measured not by my lifetime but by the lifetimes of the birds with which I am privileged to spend my life.
To me, as to so many of us, birds are family. Some of my own birds came to me having spent time among other people’s families. In several instances, I have entered into written agreements with the individuals having entrusted me with their birds that I would provide a forever home as long as my own health and circumstances would allow. In one case, an individual having entrusted his bird to me only months prior to the death of his wife continues to visit “his” bird. These visits are poignant and good for the soul, but admittedly they would not be for everyone. The visits do, however, convince me that birds are spiritual creatures with indelible memories of people and things.
In all of this, I am struck by the truth that, “You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.* Parrots started out as wild creatures. While their beauty may have encouraged us to “tame” them, their intelligence reminds us to keep the covenant. In 2006 the Board of Directors of the Las Vegas Avicultural Society came to the well-reasoned conclusion that rehoming was a thing whose time had come. Our pilot program placed over a dozen birds, whose time had come, in loving homes. We also assisted with the private adoptions of dozens of smaller birds, not otherwise eligible for our program. Additionally, we helped several bird owners address behavioral issues, and our intervention resulted in the retention of wonderful birds in wonderful homes. Though we had been warned that the Club had tried to establish a sanctioned rehoming program before, which ended up succumbing to in-fighting, the fledgling program took flight. It was patterned after the highly successful program conducted by the Wasatch Avian Education Society in Salt Lake City--which has placed over 1,000 birds in its 12-year history-and guided by the insights of an attorney with as much compassion and conviction about avian rehoming as anyone I have ever met. We were afforded the luxury of working out the kinks, even before the program accepted its first bird for placement.
When we went to the American Federation of Aviculture (AFA) meeting in August with the good news that we had instituted a sanctioned rehoming program, the attaboys were plentiful. And, many people said, “It’s about time.” We discovered that the Las Vegas Avicultural Society was one of only two or three clubs in the country that still offered live birds on its raffle table as a partial solution to rehoming, a situation that many had considered shameful. But, shame was not why we had moved in the direction of rehoming. Years of paying attention to the growing trend of parrots as a pet of choice, and many people’s unwillingness-after 10, 15, 30 years of quality interaction-to sell that “family member” had helped bring about this change. That, and the emotional exhaustion of parting with a beloved pet with a wild heritage, but now totally dependent upon humans for its quality of life, were compelling enough. Sanctioned rehoming would offer responsible organizational oversight to the placement of man’s newest best friend. Calls in the middle of the night, on weekends, whenever . . . “This is really going to be hard, but I think I’m ready” . . . “I don’t want to sell my bird . . . to me, it’s blood money.” We created a system complete with compassion and understanding and total commitment to doing right by the birds, each of whom was accompanied by a historical background painstakingly filled out by the relinquishing party prior to intake. The process was not without tears. We became matchmakers, doing our utmost to match birds and lifestyles; interim fostering helped us understand avian idiosyncrasies more than any sheet of paper ever could. “Two almonds and a filbert at 7:30PM.” We can do that! We will do that!
Despite some pressures, we didn’t pay for birds. In our case, that would only confuse the issue; nor did we want to compete with other “commercial” rescue efforts. In fact, we sought donations upon intake. Why? Because we were spending money making things happen . . . like full-panel health screenings, veterinary follow-up, and cage repair . . . and we needed to keep the adoption fees relatively low. Still, the 2006 program, led by Mark Romansky and Beverly Harrison, operated in the black. And, too, the program made it possible for the club to access donations for which it would not have otherwise been eligible . . . Pet-A-Palooza, and a variation on the Feathers-On-The-Go program with the City of Henderson. Like a pet club before it that had booked an educational presentation, the City had absolutely no problem in understanding and honoring my request for a donation to LVAS for our rehoming program and for educational programs for bird owners so that some of our birds might never need rehoming, at least not prematurely.
Many have “accused” at least several members of the courageous LVAS 2006 Board of Directors of being impassioned about a sanctioned rehoming program. Guilty as charged!
Speaking for myself and others, I do hope our rehoming program will continue. In fact, I want it to thrive. Even beyond that, I would like it to be a model of responsible stewardship for years to come. I don’t see it as a conflict with anything else that is good for the Club and good for our birds. I know it is good for people because I have seen the unmistakable relief on the faces of those whom we hug . . . and, yes, even cry with . . . when we assure them that everything is going to be all right . . . for as long as forever might be for their precious bird.
We are responsible, forever, for what we have tamed!
*Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
© 2007 Madeleine Franco, all rights reserved. Madeleine Franco, former president of the Las Vegas Avicultural Society, is an award-winning business writer and president of Jordan Richard Associates LLC. She is an investor relations and corporate communications specialist, and a work-from-home “bird mom” to a non-breeding, highly interactive and platonic pet flock.
Reprinted with permission of AFA
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