This is the crux of the matter, the problematic part that leaves parrot ownership wide open to abuse.
It is self-evidently unjust that a human can arbitrarily place a parrot into such a powerless position, with no checks and balances, no safety measures and no precautions in place to ensure any reliable protection for the parrot from substandard care.
We naively HOPE that people will, out of their own good nature, do what is best for the parrot, but time and time again, too many cases of abuse, neglect and plain stupidity and idiocy have proven such hope in humans to be misplaced, and much of the rest of society is now rather unimpressed with parrot keepers as a whole. Most popular culture, eg, movies such as Free Willy, Finding Nemo, Happy Feet, etc, demonstrate that public opinion is much more aligned to the escape and/or release of animals into the wild than it is for animals to be kept as pets.
This is why we, as fellow parronts who actually have the knowledge as to what constitutes acceptable standards of parrot ownership, must be prepared to advocate the rights of the parrot over the rights of the human, and investigate and cross-examine each and every parrot keeper until we are satisfied that an adequate standard of care is being delivered. We should be prepared to chastise, correct and impose disciplinary measures upon non-compliant and/or renegade parrot owners who fail to reach acceptable standards. Parrot keeping needs to be considered a privilege rather than a right. We need to enforce a minimum standard of parrot keeping, and show the public that we can self-regulate. Otherwise, at some point in the future, regulation will be imposed upon us, and we will have to study courses, pass exams, demonstrate practical expertise and maybe even have to register as licensed associate zoo-keepers, before we are allowed to take a parrot into our custody.
Your right on this one. MY Macaw has never clamped down on me to draw blood or cut my skin. He has left dents tho...I am never in fear of my large B&G.
