Photos of bird in bad shape what should I do?

[everdusk]

I will try to summarize. There are a pair of Crimson Bellied Conures on Kijiji (canadian criag's list), the male is missing half his upper beak and the female has her chest plucked bare. They are in Ottawa and I am in Nova Scotia.

My original plan was to contact the breeder and find out her name, address, etc. but I have just found out she sold all her birds except for one pair and the conures in question are with a friend in Ottawa (the breeder lives in New Brunswick). I wanted to report her to the authorities but that might be pointless seeing as she currently has almost NONE of the birds.

I should also mention she had another bird, an RS Eclectus on kijiji (I think it sold?) that looked sick (fluffed up, yellow muck around the beak, sitting very low on the pech), and with it was an Indian Ring neck with horribly plucked and lumpy chest. In one picture you could see watery bird feces all over the wall.

This person is/was a breeder, and claims the plucking is just a "side effect" of breeding. She also claims to breed three clutches a year out of the conures (who are clearly under too much stress). She claims to be keeping a pair of eclectus for breeding (and is still selling a baby RS) and is breeding bull dogs.

They are $800 for the pair, does anyone live in the Ottawa area that would be willing to take them if I can raise enough funds? They will need vetting and doubtless a lot of work...

 

[AFP520]

OMG I feel so bad for the little guy missing his beak!

There is definitely something up with this place

 

[everdusk]

Feeling sick, found this picture of the bird in another listing she posted

 

[dishgal1]

How in God's name does the poor thing eat or drink? That is horrendous. They should be reported. Seriously.

 

[Didomum]

Oh! Lord. I would start. Trying to find an address or phone number by emailing saying I'm looking for a bird. If this person replys, get the information and contact the animal control near the area and give them the information and show them the photos and links to the ad.
That looks like a parrot mill.

 

[everdusk]

Yes I am gathering information, I've saved all the photos and I've contacted her as a "buyer" to find out what's going on.

The complicated part is she claims she doesn't have the other birds anymore except for a pair of RS Eclectus she is keeping for breeding. The Conures are "with a friend" in another province all together. They belong to her but who knows if she will claim her friend owns them. The friend has them listed on Kijiji in Ottawa so I figure I will report both people and explain the situation to animal control in each province. Now I just need to find the numbers for animal control in NB (Moncton) and Ottawa.

 

[AFP520]

Feeling sick, found this picture of the bird in another listing she posted

Even though I don't know the circumstances, my heart breaks seeing this.

 

[everdusk]

Reported to the New Brunswick SPCA animal control. They are just passing them the info so I assume I will get a call. I also called the Ottawa Humane Society animal control and left a message.

She told me the bird got into a nesting Eclectus cage and was lucky it didn't die but that it's totally fine and can feed itself... I'm not sure how a parrot gets out of it's cage and into another one. Sounds like she is blaming the bird. The food in their dish shows just nuts and seed so I can't imagine how he eats that properly. No discussion of how to take care of him if I bought him just "he can feed himself and the babies".

 

[dishgal1]

That poor thing's beak looks like it was clipped off. Honestly, I have heard that some breeders do that to keep them from biting the babies. OMG what pain that must have caused. I honestly don't know how it can eat.
That is incredible heart wrenching. There would be no way to fix it. I just hate this kind of stuff.

 

[AFP520]

That poor thing's beak looks like it was clipped off. Honestly, I have heard that some breeders do that to keep them from biting the babies. OMG what pain that must have caused. I honestly don't know how it can eat.
That is incredible heart wrenching. There would be no way to fix it. I just hate this kind of stuff.

If that is true those breeders need to have their jaws cut off and see how it feels. That is sickening and I can't believe a breeder could ever fathom doing something like this to an animal that has no defense.

 

[everdusk]

I don't know much about this lady but I wouldn't cross that off as a possibility... Sadly, she can probably get away with blaming it on another bird...

I know this makes me so sick... That is a permanent dis-figuration and must make life terribly hard for the poor thing. It probably can't preen or eat most foods, can't groom it's mate and can't scratch an itch the foot can't reach... He really needs specialized care and I wonder if she ever took her birds to a vet... She probably didn't for fear of being reported...

Sadly, I'm not too hopeful about animal control around here... The man I spoke to was very sarcastic and sounded annoyed. He took me a little more seriously near the end when I explained that she had 4 birds listed and now only has 2, and that one had it's beak broken off... I'll update if I get any more information...

 

[Ebella812]

This is just awful. How could someone let this happen to those poor birds. I would report her anyway. You said she is still keeping 2 birds? I would have her investigated to see how the living conditions are for these birds. This is so sad. I hope they have found better homes. Poor little guys

 

[Pedro]

Now now people you should never judge people by a photo & not know the circumstances. I wonder what you would think if you saw my Crimson bellied hen with no tail. She did have one but the male bird keeps chewing it off for her. My 2 eclectus hens without feathers on their tummy, they do it when nesting. And the little eclectus hen that has half of her bottom beak missing caused by some accident in the nestbox when she was very young. She is about 3 or 4 years old now & eats well, although she has to have beak trims on a regular basis. The photo of the conure looks fine & he is able to eat & the bottom beak is trimmed then I really can't see why you would want to report them.

Looking at all your photos as a breeder i can not see that those birds are in poor condition. The eclectus looks very healthy to me, the yellow in the mouth is a normal part of the birds anatomy. The plucked male well a lot of males do that for various reasons. And the little conures, yes accidents happen & it's not the first time a bird has had it's top beak bitten off by a larger parrot. I just thought i would explain that sometime things are not what they seem.

 

[everdusk]

There are too many signs at once Pedro. A bird that starts plucking is usually a sign of stress. When a bird starts plucking itself during nesting that's when you retire that bird I say. It is self-harming and may never grow back once it's done enough. Their feathers are showing a lot of black from over-preening, as well as the dirt and feces in the cage of the larger birds. Do you see that Eclectus? It is completely puffed up and resting on it's belly in those pictures. The woman even told me she's too old and can't handle her birds yet she is still breeding parrots and even dogs.

Seems to me like these birds became more of an expense than a profit and she decided to ditch them. If I saw any animal in those conditions I would report it, if it really is just circumstance and the animals are well cared for that is for the enforcement officers to decide.

 

[everdusk]

I also want to point out she's not even keeping said birds, they did their breeding duty and she doesn't want them now. I contacted her as a buyer and she was ready to send me the birds the moment I said I was interested. She didn't tell me anything about proper care of these animals, how to care for the beak (so I assume she's not trimming) or what to feed these little guys. Nothing. Her first message said that they'll have a 3rd clutch (this year) and I'll make my money back RIGHT AWAY. See, just about profit.

When do these things begin to constitute abuse or neglect? When is the line crossed?

 

[Pedro]

I think it's very easy to jump to conclusions before knowing the whole story. If you look into the eclectus hens eyes you will see them bright & her beak is a glossy black equals health. You have to know your parrots to know how they stand & why they fluff up. That is normal for a hen.

My eclectus have 5 clutches a year if i let them. They will breed all year round.
Does that make me abuse my birds. Anyone will tell you the health of my parrots come first. My conures breed all year round. Just saying but you do what you have to do, I really don't want to argue.

 

[everdusk]

Well I won't argue with you Pedro but I will say I strongly disagree with you and I have very high expectations of a good breeder. Depending on the bird you should not allow more than 3 clutches a year, it depletes more nutrition that you can replace through feeding no matter what you do. I don't think a bird should be bred if it is showing signs of stress through plucking and it is simple consideration to keep a bird's cage, walls, food and perches clear of dirt and debris.

What I can't say enough is if you ever suspect ANY animal of abuse CALL animal control. They can ascertain what is really going on - and decide whether or not to lay charges. If we never called in abuse because you "never know the circumstances" then there would be many more animals suffering in this country today...

 

[wenz2712]

No more arguing over this!

Thread is now closed.