by Emma Dacol,
AWOL Magazine

CREATING A HAVEN FOR ABUSED PETS

Alex is a Blue & Gold macaw. His owner, Claire Exten, volunteers at the Garuda Aviary in Poolesville, Maryland. The nonprofit sanctuary shelters abused and neglected parrots. She has been volunteering at the aviary for about a year and a half. She explaind that since working for the aviary, she has learned a lot about parrot behavior and nutrition. She has also improved her relationship with Alex.

“We have a much better relationship. He’s more level headed most of the time,” Exten said. “He still has his parrot days where he goes crazy; he’s still a macaw, but then when he goes off the deep end or whatever, I understand why. He’s just being a parrot.”

Christopher Zeoli is the director of Garuda Aviary. He says parrot owners are far more likely to abandon their birds rather then keep them for their entire lives. Like many parrot sanctuaries across the U.S., the Garuda Aviary started by accident. Zeoli and his mother adopted one parrot and started taking in other abandoned parrots. Before they knew it, they had a reputation. The birds started flocking in.

According to Zeoli, 98 percent of parrots sold as pets come from abusive parrot mills. There, parrots are squished into tiny cages, kept in total darkness and fed an unnaturally rich diet to induce breeding. The diet often leads to heart attacks and strokes. Through his work, Zeoli hopes to increase awareness about parrot welfare and conservation, helping people recognize that parrots are wild animals and do not belong in captivity. However, for those to insist on keeping the birds as pets, Zeoli wants to educate parrot owners about proper care.

Approximately one-third of parrot species in the wild are endangered due to habitat destruction and the trade of wild caught parrots, while millions of wild parrots kept as household pets are discarded. The Wild Bird Conservation Act 1992, banning the import of wild caught birds into the U.S. But illegal poaching and captive breeding of parrots for the pet trade has continued.

Some argue that the that humane breeding of parrots in captivity reduced the demand for illegal caught birds.  However, Zeoli argues that because it is so difficult to get parrots to reproduce in captivity, it is impossible to treat parrots humanely and still run an economically viable breeding business. The natural lifespan of a macaw is between 50 and 90 years. And in the wild, they live in flocks and form intensely monogamous relationships with their mates. In captivity, the try to replicate these relationships with their owners. Parrots living with a human family may identify them as it’s flock. And in some situations, they will form a mate-like bond with one person, which can very problematic. The parrot can become violent with the person’s significant other or children.

Parrots exhibit remarkable intelligence. Irene Pepperburg, an adjunct professor of psychology at Brandeis University, proved that an African Grey parrot has intelligence levels similar to that of a human child.

Parrots experience isolation in captivity and are usually not allowed to fly. They feel stress which leads to self-mutilation in the form of feather plucking, similar to human obsessive-compulsive disorders.

In contrast to the media’s false image of the playful, friendly parrot, most parrot owner find their parrots difficult to manage due to the noise and aggression, and they give them up. Because of the intense bonds parrots form with their owners, transferring homes can be very traumatic.

Zeoli hopes that the government will put an end to the domestic breeding of parrots and that trade of wild-caught parrots will stop before all macaw species go extinct. He says that working at the aviary and seeing the trauma and suffering experienced by so many birds on a daily basis is “the most emotionally taxing thing I’ve ever done,” but that rehabilitating the parrots and making a difference in their lives makes it all worth while.

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Emma Dacol is a graduate student pursuing an MFA in film and electronic media

AWOL (American Way of Life) Magazine is an award winning progressive publication run by American University students

AWOL Magazine is not affiliated with any political party or ideology.

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