Another day, another hoarding situation

For the fourth time in 2011, CARE is dealing with the aftermath of a hoarding situation. Last week, we had five birds surrendered to us -- a macaw, cockatoo, two amazons, and a finch. They had been living with an animal hoarder (she had dozens of very sick cats and dogs as well as the parrots.)

They were in bad shape physically, and we've already incurred over $1,000 in (discounted) vet costs caring for these birds. Some require medication, and all will need follow-up appointments, which will run the bills up even more. We're very hopeful that all will fully recover under our care, once they have a good diet, proper caging, plenty of interesting toys, and needed companionship, though this is likely to take time.

We're asking for monetary help in caring for these birds. You can use the paypal button above to donate, or send a check directly to CARE at 3053 Beechwood Industrial Court, Ste 1, Hubertus, WI 53033. You can also make a payment directly to our vet hospital, Brook-Falls, on CARE's behalf.

We thank you in advance for your help. It is heartbreaking to see these amazing beings in such squalor; however, we know that parrots are extremely resilient and these birds will pull through once they receive proper treatment.

If any good can be said to come out of this situation, we have strengthened our relationship with law enforcement in that community. Officers will be visiting CARE to learn about birds' needs and how to determine if parrots are in danger. Most officers know what to look for with regards to dogs and cats, but birds are more of a mystery. With any luck, this will lead to earlier intervention with neglected and suffering parrots in that community.

Join us Saturday November 5 for a garage and bake sale!

Please join us next Saturday, November 5, 2011, from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM for a garage and bake sale!

This event will take place at CARE - 3053 Beechwood Industrial Court, Hubertus, WI 53033.

The garage sale will include used cages, stands, and other parrot-related items, as well as non-parrot-related items.  The bake sale will include many delicious treats.

Of course, all proceeds go directly back into CARE to help the birds.

We really hope to see you there!

Puzzle Update

We last talked about Puzzle here, when he was featured as one of our less adoptable pets. He's still up for adoption. The only reason he's listed as less adoptable is that, due to poor care in his previous home, he will likely always need milk thistle supplementation added to his diet.

This is a miniscule amount of extra work compared to the joy that Puzzle brings!

He's definitely going to have to pick his person, as he can be choosy about who he does and doesn't like. And when he's in love, it's amazing to see.

If we can't find him a home, I suppose we could consider hiring him out to do administrative work:


Of course we are joking about that :) He just has the adorable habit of standing up tall and saying "hello!" when he hears the phone ring.

Please stop by if you're interested in Puzzle as we need to make sure his new family understands the importance of feeding him a proper diet, including his necessary supplementation.

Holly Update

Even though our last Holly update was just earlier this month, we took a video of her that we wanted to share. Also, she is so adorable -- how hasn't she found a home yet?

When Holly sees people she likes, she hangs from the top of her cage -- it's her way of begging to come out.

When she comes out of her cage, she is so excited to come out that she throws herself at the arm -- there is nothing delicate about this action! She is so full of happiness and life that it always puts a smile on our faces.



We put a towel over our arm to have her step up. This is to help her grip when she comes flying out -- to prevent her from falling if she over- or under-shoots in her excitement. Sometimes she throws herself at the towel when it's even further away. She appears to have been a bit camera-shy here :)

Holly is still looking for a home. She'd love to be in place with a new family by the end of the year! Although she does have a disability in her dislocated hip, we were able to discontinue all pain killers once her health improved under our care. She currently requires no special care, though will need an observant owner and may possibly require pain killers at some point in the future.

Meet Max

Meet Max, an approximately 8 year old tame quaker. His previous owner died, so he made his way to us. He can be a bit cage aggressive, but is extremely sweet outside of his cage.
We frequently hear him ask, "want some water?" He loves being the center of attention and involved in the activities of the house.

We currently have a lot of quakers up for adoption, so if you've been thinking about adding a quaker to your house, we can help you find the right one. Maybe it will be Max!

Meet Sweet Pea

Meet Sweet Pea, an approximately 11 year old Double Yellow Headed Amazon. He came in with Bongo.He's lived his entire life with one owner, and with Bongo for company. Sweet Pea and Bongo had their own room, so they were rarely caged as they had free reign of the room. However, once his owner had a human baby, she determined that she no longer had time for her parrots. This is one of the top reasons why parrots lose their homes.

Sweet Pea is tame and friendly, though he hasn't had much human interaction recently. He is bonded to Bongo, and we'd love for the two of them to be adopted into the same home. They don't physically interact much, but they enjoy each other's company as they've been roommates for over a decade.

As always, please stop by if you'd like to meet him!

Meet Bongo

Meet Bongo, an approximately 25 year old severe macaw. We suspect she's female, but don't have her DNA sexing back yet. For the past 15 years, she lived in the same home, along with Sweet Pea, who we'll introduce tomorrow.
Bongo is very tame and sweet. She used to go everywhere with her previous owner and was very social. However, once her owner had a human baby, she no longer had time for Bongo, who found her way to us. As such, she hasn't had much human interaction lately, but she did have her parrot friend, Sweet Pea, for companionship.
Bongo and Sweet Pea get along very well, though they don't physically interact much. We'd love to adopt them into the same home, though they will require separate cages.

Severe macaws can live 40+ years, so there's a lot of life and love left in Bongo. If you'd like to meet her, please stop by!

Meet Glory

Meet Glory, an approximately 5 year old dove. We think he's a male, but it doesn't really matter, as he does not get along with other doves and must be an only dove. He was loved, but had to be given up due to his previous owner's health problems.He is very tame and sweet. I had set him on the counter in order to take his picture, and he came over to jump up on my arm. He definitely wants human companionship and to be part of a family!
If you'd like to make Glory part of your family, please fill out an Adoption Application on our website, or stop by to meet him!

Meet Norman

Meet Norman, a grey in his mid-teens. He hasn't been with us long, but he's already charming us! Norman has been basically happy and well-cared for, but his owners recently have had less time for him and felt it wasn't fair to Norman, so they wanted to find him a new home.
He's yet another example of a bird who loses a home through no fault of his own. His owners just no longer had enough time for him.

Norman may bite on occasion when he is overexcited or when unknown people try to force him to do things he doesn't want to do, like step up on a scary stranger! However, once his new owner learns his body language, this will not be an issue.Norman does talk a bit, including some German, according to his former owner. We haven't heard much here, but he's still getting accustomed to life at the Center.

We know this playful, friendly grey will make a great companion for a family that is willing to commit to him. We really hope he finds that home soon!

Snickers Update

We introduced you to Snickers here. He was going to be one of the birds featured last week because we couldn't understand why he took so long to find a home. He'd probably tell you it's because sometimes good things are worth the wait!

Thank you to his new owners for giving him such a wonderful home. We look forward to hearing about his exploits in his new home!



He's been in his new home for over a month now, and doing really well! Here is a recent picture, along with an update:

From his new family:

In less than 3 weeks, Snickers has blossomed into an unexpected delight. Having 3 Senegals, I wanted a bigger bird that talked more and was easily trick trainable. When I went out to CARE to get a few supplies, I was not specifically looking to adopt. I wanted to see the greys Lori had.

Well, Snickers kind of attached himself to me. He talks all the time, some things we can't understand. Others come out as though a person was speaking, like "Better call a lawyer", hmmmmm.

Last night he said, something and "shoot me". He is becoming very gentle. I am absolutely thrilled to have him. He is very happy here, I can tell. Lori and the gang at CARE do a wonderful job rehabbing these precious creatures to be adoptable. I call Snickers my new used bird and always get a chuckle. Thank you.

Join us tonight at Rainforest Night at the Domes

We apologize for the late posting of this entry, but we'd love for you to join us tonight at the Domes for Rainforest Night!

This takes place tonight from 6 - 9:30 pm. Bring a flashlight for a special Tropical Dome tour and enjoy free samples of rainforest treats -- make your own tropical sundae!

Normal Domes entrace fees apply ($6.50/adult, $5/child, free for Friends of the Domes members and children under age 5.)

Many of our volunteers will be there with their own birds as well as some shelter birds who love doing events and meeting the public.

We've been attending this for several years now, and it's a great opportunity for us to educate people about the plight of captive parrots in an enjoyable way.

We hope to see you there!

Meet Fletcher

Meet Fletcher, a young, tame lovebird. Our original plan was to use Fletcher for education purposes, so she's been living at CARE for over a year. However, as she's matured, we realized that this isn't the best environment for her.She gets a little too stimulated and hormonal here; we're hoping that this behavior might decrease in a home, where there would be fewer bird hormones flying around to get her excited!

Fletcher steps up, though her favorite place to be is on your shoulder. She loves being part of the action and will hang on her cage door begging for attention when she sees her favorite people.

It will be really tough to see Fletcher go, as she's stolen the hearts of our volunteers, but we realize we must do what's best for her. We hope to find her a home soon so she can celebrate the new year with a new family!

Meet Pretty

Meet Pretty, a young adult quaker. She hasn't been with us very long, but all of the other blue quakers we've had surrendered to us were adopted out during the first few days they were with us. Therefore, she makes it on to our underappreciated list.
She was surrendered because her previous owner has tinnitus and he claimed that her noise irritated him.

Pretty is tame and looking for a home where she can live out the rest of her days. She'd love to be an active part of a family -- joining you for showers, meals, etc.

If you have room in your home and heart for her, please stop by!

Meet Pistachio

Pistachio is an approximately 5 year old Nanday Conure. He's been with us for several months now, and we don't understand why he hasn't yet found a home! He is incredibly sweet. When we walk by his cage, he pushes his head into the cage bars so we'll scratch him.
Pistachio loves being with people and requires a home where he will be part of the family. Nandays do have loud calls, so we can't adopt them to people in apartments.

Look at that face! How is he still looking for a home?
As always, please stop by if you'd like to meet him!

Holly Update

This week, we're going to feature birds that we can't understand why they are still with us. Instead of "Adopt-a-less-adoptable-pet-week," it's "Adopt-a-super-adoptable-but-under-appreciated-pet-week." I know, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. But these are the Susan Luccis of CARE.

Many people think of rescue birds as damaged in some way, but we've learned time and time again that's not the case. Unfortunately, far too many people who are not equipped to own parrots purchase them, and then the birds suffer. True, there are some birds who, due to their innate personality or past experiences with humans, are difficult, and many of those birds find their way to rescue.

However, the majority of birds find their way to us because they outlived their owner, or their owner has a major life change and is unwilling or unable to include the bird in that change. Additionally, there are parrots owned by people who didn't do their research on what living what one of these intelligent creatures involves, so they are unprepared for the noise, mess, and cost of living with one.

Luckily, parrots are extremely resilient and the vast majority of them will quickly integrate into a new home.

We've talked a few times about Holly, an adult severe macaw. Here is the last time she was featured. Holly came from an animal hoarder, so we have no information on her. When she first came to us, we suspected that she was in her 30s, due to her condition. Holly, a few weeks after surrender:

However, she has made such amazing progress since being with us that we think we may have prematurely aged her. She might be a spritely teenager! Can you believe this is the same bird?

Holly is an incredible joy to be around. When she sees her favorite people, she starts swinging from the top of her cage and begging to come out. She leaps on their arm and is one happy lady.

She will always have a dislocated hip, but since being on a good diet at CARE, her arthritis has disappeared, so she is no longer on any kind of pain medication. Her dislocated hip does not impede her in any way -- she has a normal cage, with normal perches, and normal toys.

We don't understand why she's been here for nearly a year. She isn't aggressive at all, and is quite charming. She is relatively undemanding and just wants to spend time out of her cage with people.

In a home environment, where she'll receive more one-on-one attention, we suspect that she'll reveal many more delightful surprises. She is quite the treasure, and we hope that she will soon have a home of her own. We're just not sure why she doesn't have one already!