I am disgusted with the human race

I was curing some boredom and browsing the Internet when I came across this on yahoo answers. Just scheduled my parrot for de beaking? - Yahoo! Answers

Apparently his African Grey bites his wife and his solution is to debeak the bird. At first, I thought it were just a sick joke made by some lifeless kid, but since I am unfamiliar with debeaking and thinking chickens were the only victims I did a little research. I unfortunately stumbled across this disturbing link.
Surgical Beak Altering

I'm a veterinary student, and was unaware this cruel act had been done on parrots. Has anyone else heard of this? It is very depressing to me.

That guy is a $#* to do that to a parrot, just because he bit your wife doesn't mean he has to get have of his beak removed. If he doesn't want a parrot with a beak get him a fish no wait don't get him a fish hell want the fishes fins removed so it can't jump out of the fish bowel again. Somebody should send him and the stupid so called vet to the ASPCA for abusive medical practices. I will be surprised if the bird survives through the surgery let alone the next 30 or 40 years of his life. I have never ever heard of this kind of abusive practice, I never did this to my silkie chicks when I ordered them, even tho it was only 5 cents.

Perhaps the owners of the african grey should think about why their parrot is biting...

The answer is probably because the bird doesn't like them if they're the kind of owners who'd do that to an animal!!

I've heard of it, but I don't think many reputable vets would do it except perhaps in very exceptional circumstances. This doesn't sound like an exceptional circumstance.

This is what he posted a week earlier. Is it healthy to de beak your parrot? - Yahoo! Answers

I do not know any vet who would be willing to do such a thing. You have a hard time even finding a vet who will crop a dog's ears without there being a medical reason for it around here. This is pure animal cruelty. Why do some people own pets and you would think it would be easier, and no money out of his pocket to just rehome the bird. African Greys are the most abused/neglected pet parrot, and I don't understand why. It breaks my heart.

I'm going to be honest here, I'm actually afraid to open up the link and read the article because the title alone runs shivers down my spine and makes my blood boil at the same time.

NO vet should EVER perform such a cruel act!

As for the person who's requesting it: Hand him/her over and I will alter his ego!

JerseyWendy said:

I'm going to be honest here, I'm actually afraid to open up the link and read the article because the title alone runs shivers down my spine and makes my blood boil at the same time.

NO vet should EVER perform such a cruel act!

As for the person who's requesting it: Hand him/her over and I will alter his ego!

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I cried and would have preferred not to know. The bottom half of the article talks about a de-vocalizing method in parrots. You think people would understand upon purchasing a bird that they do infact make noise.

brittish said:

I cried and would have preferred not to know. The bottom half of the article talks about a de-vocalizing method in parrots. You think people would understand upon purchasing a bird that they do infact make noise.

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I've got a little story - non bird related - yet similar.
My husband's coworker bought a Collie who had been DE-vocalized. I swear, I had never heard of that one either. She nonchalantly explained to me that some show dogs get de-vocalized so that they don't bark so much during shows. GRRRR! I hate to admit it, but I don't think she will ever talk to me again after I voiced my opinion to her about that.

Some people just DO NOT need any pets - for the animals' sake.

So terrible! I think these people need to be locked in a cage, given the same treatment that causes their pets to do what they do, and make people realize why these animals react in this way! Although, I'm sure, they would be so unenlightened about living beings that, they wouldn't get it!

I worked for a vet, while still in my teens, (a million years ago), and he had a friend, a female vet, with an Akita that barked a lot. This woman would put her dog in a crate and roll it off some stairs to get it to be quiet!! This woman eventually killed the dog so she could dissect it's brain, thinking that there was a reason, beyond her control, for this dog's barking! I was so disturbed by this that I quit going to school to get traing to be an AHT. If I had known more, I would have turned her in. Poor critters, if only they could choose who they want to hang out with.

I don't believe this guy is for real. Nobody would keep their bird after it maimed them so bad they had to have reconstructive surgery. I think he is a troll trying to get animal lovers all riled up.

The second link is over ten years old... I think this may be alarmist, and if it were actually a thing done to birds, I think we'd hear more about it--and intervene. I think de-beaked/de-vocalized birds would be showing up in rescues if it were really something that could be done with the bird surviving..

I am crying. I have heard of debarking, SO CRUEL!!!! Though not until just now have I seen 'de-beaking'. I think your title is true to my thoughts, I am utterly at a loss as of what to say to this. Disgusted.

Bet you ANYTHING he got the african grey to hear it talk.

This is a disgusting practice, makes me feel shame that I am part of the humane race. Why won't he give it to somebody who will love for it and care for without surgically removing part of the beak? Some people shouldn't be aloud to have a pet, didn't he know that there is a billion other choices than surgically altering a poor birdies beak.....

This story is pretty long, but it goes to show how animal cruelty is not taken seriously.

Four years ago, I was living in on a secluded dirt road(maybe 4 or 5 houses total). I had a 7-8 month old pit bull/mastiff that loved playing with one of my neighbor's kids. My neighbor directly behind me was this gun-loving redneck that had just returned from Iraq. I left for school one morning and on the way to class I started feeling sick so I went back home. My front door was wide open(the wind from a storm blew it open once and it never shut very good so it wasn't odd) but when I walked in there was blood everywhere-carpet, kitchen tile, couch, living room table) and my dog(Spookie) was laying on the couch. As I approached him, he lifted his head and i could see straight through his face(muzzle/cheek area). I freaked out, called my landlord who lived on the road and as I stepped onto my front porch the guy behind me was leaving in his truck. He rolled the window down and very bluntly said, "I shot your dog. Have a nice day." the sarcastic, almost evil tone in his voice still gets me mad as hell.

I rushed my dog to the vet, they did surgery and put his jaw back together, told me he would be staying for a few days. I went home and my neighbor with the kids came over and told me that the guy he shot Spookie knocked on his door that morning and told him "if you hear a gunshot, I'm shooting this dog." the other people on the dirt road told me the same story and that they saw him luring my dog off my porch and up the road with a piece of hotdog. I pressed charges on him for cruelty to animals, and even brought a neighbor with me as a witness. For two weeks not one cop showed up at his house to serve him his papers, and he ended up moving to Texas. It makes me so mad to know he can shoot my dog in the face with a shotgun and it be ok. The least he should have been made to do was pay my huge vet bill.

Oh, and he later told my landlord my dog had bit his wife and that morning and he had to take her to the hospital. His wife was home all day after he left and even came to my front door to apologize and tell me she asked him not to do it. She denies ever being bit. I know they kept their dog indoors from that day on too.

LakeDesire said:

I don't believe this guy is for real. Nobody would keep their bird after it maimed them so bad they had to have reconstructive surgery. I think he is a troll trying to get animal lovers all riled up.

The second link is over ten years old... I think this may be alarmist, and if it were actually a thing done to birds, I think we'd hear more about it--and intervene. I think de-beaked/de-vocalized birds would be showing up in rescues if it were really something that could be done with the bird surviving..

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I think so too, but the pictures and the article kill me because it has been done before and this person whom I do think to be a troll finds it amusing.

Debeaking is a common practice used with chickens. I know they are destined for slaughter, but is it necessary to cause such pain and suffering prior to their death? Seems a bit vicious.

I agree - I think the guy booked in to have it done to his grey is just trolling.

I can't imagine how anyone would think this was an acceptable solution regardless of how much a bird bites & am pleased to see the vet who was performing this 'surgery' is no longer doing it.

@ Brittish: I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your dog, that is truly awful. You said the neighbour had recently returned from Iraq...not that it excuses what he did or makes it ANY less horrendous, but perhaps he was suffering from PTSD? PTSD is no fun, it changes people, screws with their heads, & can make them 'snap'.

coral3 said:

I agree - I think the guy booked in to have it done to his grey is just trolling.

I can't imagine how anyone would think this was an acceptable solution regardless of how much a bird bites & am pleased to see the vet who was performing this 'surgery' is no longer doing it.

@ Brittish: I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your dog, that is truly awful. You said the neighbour had recently returned from Iraq...not that it excuses what he did or makes it ANY less horrendous, but perhaps he was suffering from PTSD? PTSD is no fun, it changes people, screws with their heads, & can make them 'snap'.

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That was my assumption. I live in Fort Bragg which is the east coast's largest army base, so our population is majorly military. I interned at a mental health outpatient unit for returning soldiers with PTSD back during my 2nd year of school. I know it isn't easy, but the number of soldiers with PTSD is shocking and not all of them run around shooting puppies. I feel for his wife and kids. Before the shooting incident, I had another pit bull that mysteriously became deathly ill overnight. I brought her home from the vet both blind and deaf, looking 20lbs lighter. I have always been suspicious of the possibility he poisoned her.

Just reading the original post made me sick and sad. I couldn't even click the link. Maybe we should start some kind of petition making this an illegal practice. I still have not checked the link. I just couldnt.

Or maybe show this to PETA so they could help...like I said, still cant look

Adinafloyd said:

Just reading the original post made me sick and sad. I couldn't even click the link. Maybe we should start some kind of petition making this an illegal practice. I still have not checked the link. I just couldnt.

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I have a hard time finding debeaking cases involving parrots, but PETA is already against debeaking of chickens. From the second link it is proven that it has been done to breeding cockatoos, and that a licensed vet was supporting it, but I guess he couldn't take the criticism and had a change of heart. I am certain there are veterinarians that do continue do this, but would not risk dealing with the animal activists and refrain from making it public.

I wrote an essay on unethical veterinary procedures and I can't even stomach the thought of some. You would be surprised what happens behind closed doors.