This article has been reposted with the kind permission of Ambika Shukla.

Imagine being confined to the same room day after day, week after week, year after year. You cannot choose when and what you eat, how you spend your time, whether you have a partner and - if you do - who that partner is. Imagine never being able to seek out the company of another person, take a walk or decide anything for yourself.

If you can imagine this, you have some idea of how frustrated birds are when they are cooped up in cages. Just ask John Abraham.

A longtime animal supporter, John posed for a PETA print ad with the slogan "No One Wants to Be Caged: Let Birds Fly Free".  Says John, "I crawled into a human-sized cage to depict the sad plight of birds imprisoned in cages. Birds are born to fly great distances. Keeping them jailed is a cruel thing to do and possibly the worst form of punishment anyone can think of for a bird".  (Note: You can view the ad here.)

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Grey Bird's caregiver (see this story) wrote the following letter to Wendy after considering how he could give Grey Bird the best future that he possibly could.

Wendy,

I am impressed with your organization.

I have a Congo African Grey Parrot. She is female and is about 15 years old. Compared to some of the birds on your site, Grey Bird is in great shape. She has all her feathers and does not pluck herself, but her quality of life is not the best!

I have reached a point in my life when I would like to travel a bit. I cannot do so with her. She does not do well if she is moved! And I do not feel good leaving her.

A few weeks ago I saw a DVD entitled "The Cove". It was about the slaughter of dolphins in Japan and about the dolphins that are captured and sent to "sea exhibits" around the world. The producer was the person who trained the original Flipper in the Flipper television series. Flipper ended his life in this man's arms. Dolphins and whales are the only animals who can will themselves to stop breathing and this is what Flipper did. It opened this man's eyes to the level of suffering of dolphins in captivity.

I think the same level of suffering is true for parrots! It opened my eyes.

What do dolphins and parrots have in common?

1. They are both highly intelligent creatures.

2. They are both VERY social animals.

3. They are both capable of living a long time. I think parrots outlive dolphins.

4. They both suffer a great deal in captivity.

Parrots cannot end their own suffering, but some of their "captive" behaviours make one think that they want to!

I tried to be a good owner. I rescued Grey Bird. There is no comparison to what she was when she came to me and what she is now, but I failed her as well.

What I see on a much deeper level now is that parrots cannot be kept happily as pets by a single owner in a cage, any more than dolphins can be happily kept in a sea world environment. Neither is possible.

Parrots should not be offered for sale.

In my other life I was a biologist. I majored in animal behaviour - ethology. The study of ethology teaches very clearly the difference between "tame" and "domesticated". Dolphins and parrots can be easily tamed but never domesticated.

All wild animals have what are called flight distances. This is the distance a wild animal will let you approach before they attack or run. Sociable animals like parrots and dolphins can reduce this distance to zero. They allow human contact. This is the definition of "tame" - flight distance is reduced to zero. "Domestic" means the animal can thrive and do well in a human environment. Most domestic animals could not survive in any other environment. Cats, dogs, and cattle are some examples, but this is not true of dolphins or parrots. Most do not thrive.

Parrots require tremendous stimulation.

Alas poor Grey Bird leads a most deprived life. She has had the best of food (pellets!), care, etc, but I have failed her. She does not know that she is a bird. I know this. She actively courts Magi, my Papillon. What can I say?

I do not think it is in a parrot's best interest to be someone's pet.

Like I said, parrots are tamed, not domesticated. They need to be in colonies of their own kind. Like training Flipper did for the producer of The Cove, having Grey Bird has made me see very clearly how totally wrong it is to keep a parrot as a pet. I am her future, and I want to do what is best for her.

I want to give her the best "forever" future I possibly can.

John

This is an important video that all prospective pet parrot owners should watch - courtesy of the American network, CBS News. (Note: They mention that some people release their birds - please do NOT do this. It is a virtual death sentence to parrots in North America where they have no flock, natural food, or survival skills!)

Watch CBS Videos Online

Wendy, Ann, Val, Grant, and a few feathered advocates for the Refuge recently participated in a Professional Development day for regional high school teachers. It was a great opportunity to educate the educators regarding the plight of parrots, both in the wild and in captivity.

Wendy with Peaches

Ann with the PED Day Display

We would like to thank Robin Horemans for sharing his experiences, and also the Calgary Parrot Club for permission to reprint this article from their publication, Calgary Psittascene, on our website.

The World Parrot Refuge Visit, April 2008
By Robin Horemans

I was fortunate recently to take a vacation on Vancouver Island. There, I visited the World Parrot Refuge, in Coombs BC. It's about half an hour from Port Alberni. To be honest, I've never really been a fan of 'sanctuaries' or 'forever' aviaries. I've always thought some birds can be rehabbed and live happy and healthy lives with humans. Sure, sanctuaries have their place, but save those places for the birds who really need them.

Make it the Insane Asylum, the Rehab centre. Let the 'normal' birds move to a new, fantastic family. Little did I know what I was about to experience! I have worked with rescues before, so I'm familiar with the trauma, heartbreak, suffering and healing that is involved. I was mentally preparing myself to see 700 birds that have been given up on: who are sad, grieving and torn up inside. I was expecting to see self-mutilators, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, screaming and sad eyes of creatures who have given up hope.

I walked through the aviaries of macaws first, then the amazons. I was amazed at the large spaces the birds were given. The aviaries were the size of a house, filled with trees, perches and every kind of toy. A large set of aviaries just for the cockatoos, filled with many different species of 'too. There was no sad eyes, no grieving, no depression.

Instead what I found was a vibrant community. A thriving flock of souls who had been through the worst the world could offer and were healing together. They preened together. They played. PLAYED like children: throwing and destroying and screaming and flapping for the fun of it.

I saw large flocks of 50 of their own kind, with all the intricacies. There was a sentry, watching. There was a couple, oblivious to the world and cuddling together. There were the Jokers, getting into trouble. I saw squabbles for perches, food, toys, attention. I saw birds, being birds. It was fantastic!

Then, at the end of the aviary was the 'Transition Room'. The newcomers to the rescue were getting used to their new-found freedom. This is where MY education began.

In this room, the birds are caged separately to begin with. They come to the rescue knowing only their cage, and their humans who have given them up. They need to get used to the 'new' way of doing things.

Slowly, the cage door is opened and the birds are left to venture out on their own. A large set of branches and trees intertwine around the room, allowing for clipped birds to experience more freedom. Eventually the wings grow out and they start to fly and become part of the flock.

I started going cage to cage, saying hello and giving head-rubs. I soon found myself with two African greys who had waddled over and were now chewing on my shoes. I reached down and both demanded head-rubs. The overwhelming sense of healing was everywhere. The amazons looked exhausted and slept. The cockatoos demanded petting, or solitude. Everyone screamed. They were all learning how to be birds again.

Then the most moving part of my experience happened. A man came in to surrender his bird.

It was a cockatoo: it was plucked and had a wound on its front from mutilation. But the bird was friendly and sociable, sitting on the man's shoulder and getting attention. The man was crying as he took his bird out of the carrier. He was facing the difficult decision to surrender his bird.

She sat on his shoulder as he walked around the room, tears in his eyes. She had a firm grip on his shoulder. They toured the room, saw the cage she would be living in for the first few days, and a volunteer explained how life would carry on after that. The man nodded. The bird stared.

Being introduced to the 'locals', the bird made a surprising decision. She suddenly jumped off the man's shoulder onto the cage top perches in front of him. Fully alert, crest up, she marched over to a high perch, and right up to another bird of her species. The new friend looked at her, obliged, and started preening her head. She leaned over and closed her eyes.

The man stared at her, tears rolling down his cheeks.

She was home.

She refused his hand for a step-up. She refused a head-rub. She moved away from him to a higher perch. She put up one foot and started preening.

I was crying watching all this go on. I can only imagine how that man must have felt. Sad, deserted, alone, yet happy to provide this creature with what she needed. A flock of her own!

I have sincerely readjusted my view of rescues. I was profoundly moved by not only what I saw at this fantastic facility, but how the birds were happy, healthy and comfortable. I am so proud of what this rescue does for the birds. The life they live is as close to natural as we can provide. I hope they continue with their heaven-on-earth for the birds. I can't imagine a place I'd rather Quentin go.

"The World Parrot Refuge is a true sanctuary where parrots live out their lives in a loving, spacious and happy environment under the guidance of extraordinarily caring people. The many visitors destined to pass through the refuge will come to understand that parrots are not toys or trophies, but beings with needs and emotions as real as our own."

– Rosemary Low (author of more than 30 books on parrots)

"This is, in a word, a great place and these miraculous creatures deserve no less, but few places can deliver it this well. It is, indeed, 'world class'."

– Stewart Metz (author and Director of the Indonesian Parrot Project), after his visit at the Grand Opening of the Refuge on August 13, 2005.