We have new t-shirts featuring our great new illustration designed by Sheila Potts of Blue Chair Designs!

The shirts are a warm beige colour and 100% pre-shrunk cotton with a wonderful multi-colour silkscreened image.

Only $14 each + shipping ($3 in Canada, $4 to the US).

To see photos or place an order, please click Read More:

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We are so excited to announce our new Donation Can program!

Many thanks to Gary who provided the incentive for this program by asking if the refuge had donation cans. I said not right now...but we'd get some! The past week has been spent getting the cans, designing the labels, receiving feedback, printing the labels and assembling the cans.

Gary has now taken 25 cans to distribute around the Surrey/Delta areas of the Lower Mainland, BC, and has plans to visit vets and other appropriate venues.

If you would like to help out with our new Donation Can program as a distributor, or have contacts in organizations and/or businesses that would be willing to "host" a can, please contact Cheryl. There are currently 25 cans left to be distributed.

Thank you!

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Update July 6, 2010: Thank you so much, everyone! All you wonderful "friends of parrots" have been so fantastic and generous that we've got everyone back to work again. It is truly with your support that we are able to continue helping the over 800 birds here.  Thank you so very, very much!

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17 MORE PEOPLE FACE THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE: LOSS OF BC GAMING GRANT DEVASTATES THE PARROT SANCTUARY.

The closing of 2 large rescue organizations in Canada in the last 2 years has dramatically increased the flow of parrots to the World Parrot Refuge in Coombs, BC, which is now housing more than 800 birds. The loss of the BC Government Gaming Grant has almost crippled this organization.

With the generosity of loving people and the fund raising ventures of volunteers and staff, the sanctuary has kept its head above water - until now. We need to raise about $30k to get through till the tourist season is under way. Tourism season puts us back in the black for a few months and gives us the chance to apply for grants.

We need the hard working, caring staff to provide this loving home to these previously owned pet parrots and aging ex-breeding birds. Our staff work for just above minimum wage and add hours of volunteer labor because of their devotion to the birds they love.

Now they face the unemployment line.

If the government had used common sense, they could see that it is far cheaper to donate $100k of the Gaming Funds to this charity instead of now having to pay out EI funds. The job market on Vancouver Island is bleak to say the least. To be able to provide steady employment to 17 people is a great help to the economy. These people have families and they spend money. The loss of their jobs will not only devastate them, but will cause great hardship for those of us who volunteer to care for the parrots.

The government gladly takes the tax money from the sale of parrots to the public. Happily grabs tax money from each and every sale of cages, toys and bird food, but bears no responsibility for the problems associated with a trade that should not even exist.

We add a great venue to the tourism industry and provide tax dollars to the government. We want to be open for the upcoming tourist season, but we need the funding to make this possible.

If you are able to help sponsor our staff until tourist season begins, we would be most grateful. The birds depend on our staff, and without them we won't be able to give them the type of care that is needed to provide a Home For Life.

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.)

Click the link to finish reading the article:

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The World Parrot Refuge was very proud to present a unique conference in Parksville, BC, which helped to educate the attendees about conservation and the illegal parrot trade. A number of amazing parrot experts joined us from Canada, the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom, all of whom presented lectures as part of our goal to educate the public about what is being done to protect the parrots of the world.

Over the next week or so, we will have photos posted and a brief of the lectures to share with you.

Please click below to read more about the fascinating speakers who presented at the conference.

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Please click on the thumbnails below to learn how you can help some special birds have a home for life through our "Virtual Adoption" program!

Birds who are now partly sponsored, thank you!

Birds who are now fully sponsored, thank you!

"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.