Exotic Birds Seized From Condemned Colorado Home

PUEBLO, Colo. — Dozens of exotic birds are being nursed to health in Colorado after animal control officers found them malnourished in a condemned house without heat or water.

Authorities went to the place in Pueblo on Tuesday after getting a tip from neighbors and found 45 macaw parrots, about 150 pigeons and some dogs and cats.

By the time officials went back the next day, two of the macaws had died. Authorities say the elderly owner was feeding them dog food to try to keep them alive.

The 43 surviving macaws were seized Wednesday and taken to a veterinarian. The pigeons, cats and dogs remain on the man's property, with officials bringing them food and water.

The homeowner hasn't been named or charged with a crime.

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Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain, http://www.chieftain.com

Comments

[Oortcloud]

07:19 AM on 01/22/2010

I don't disagree that this is a case of animal hoarding - which must have commenced when the elderly owner had enough faculties to amass them - however, there's a lot missing from this story with respect to detail. My mother, in her declining later years, hoarded "things" - food, clothing, junk - you name it - thank goodness none of it was alive. Hoarding seems to be a signatory condition of geriatric dementia - it is ever so much sadder when living creatures are involved. Of course, we intervened and would remove some of the "things" to Goodwill and other charitable organizations, secretly; she rarely noticed anything missing; once the hoarding syndrome became more than the family could manage and was no longer mildly amusing, we had to move her to an assisted living environment.

As many readers have stated, it is abundantly telling and tragic that this not a particularly rare story in the US - no one seems to notice or intervene in these sad situations until the animals have endured significant and preventable suffering. How can we leave the unstable and/or elderly so totally alone as a society?

[mockingbird1]

12:35 AM on 01/22/2010

PLEASE DONATE TO THE GABRIEL FOUNDATION IN DENVER. THEY ARE THE RESCUE OPERATION THAT WILL HAVE TO CARE FOR THESE BIRDS.

WWW.THEGABRIELFOUNDATION.ORG

[TaylorB95]

05:29 PM on 01/21/2010

It's not just animal hoarding...it's a much more serious problem. It's the ability for elderly people to go unnoticed and unattended in our communities. I did a rescue years ago...a woman had broken her arm and the EMT called me about parrots. The woman was living alone and had lost her mind...she had cages and cages of birds...and she was feeding them by throwing seed on the floors...the parrots that were free were ok...but the ones locked in cages starved to death. The heat was blasting and the home was filled with rats and roaches. It was the worse case I had ever come across.

What shocked me...is not that this poor woman had done this to the animals...she really had no sense of what was going on...but that, while we were able to get her to give us all the animals and save them...I couldn't find anyone interested in her. None of our local services had any interest in checking on her. She lived in a major city...not 400 miles out in the boonies...but there is just a severe lack of funding to help people like this...not to mention we wouldn't want to become a "socialist" country and provide services to people that need them.

[hypnotoad72]

08:15 PM on 01/21/2010

Yours is a great post.

Our society hypes up the young in the media (amongst other venues) and even actively encourages ageism and stereotypes... and it's not unique to America, either: http://www.onrec.com/newsstories/9879.asp

Not that I'm ignoring the parrots; macaws are very intelligent birds... but you're spot-on in that people are (seemingly) always ignored...

[Clive Coogan]

02:12 AM on 01/22/2010

The poverty and neglect amongst the senior and elderly population of this country is the most underreported story of our times. My mother is 75 and a volunteer at a local senior center here in Denver. Her stories of their daily struggles, loneliness, impending homelessness, hunger and lack of appropriate medical attention after a life of hard work, enrages me.

We are simply a "Confederacy of Parrots." Public opinion is so influenced by television that nobody has a voice of their own anymore. Our parrot society wants nothing but more crackers. Yet despite our image of ourselves as a "nation of generosity", we completely neglect our elderly. We have lost the ability to take care of one another because we exist in Plato's Cave. The only thing that our previous generation has at it's disposal for survival is Social Security and Medicare. Take this away and we are well on our way towards a 21st Century Dickensian Society.

[BudgieMan]

04:21 PM on 01/21/2010

People like this make me sick.

[hypnotoad72]

08:09 PM on 01/21/2010

What would you want them to do; be judged by a panel of for-profit interests and told if they're worthy of life or death?

I need as much context about your statement as I think you need context about the situation. I don't think the woman was being deliberately cruel (and if that were the case, I'd be sick too.)

[mairs]

08:54 PM on 01/21/2010

It makes me sick whether she meant it or not. The result is the same, and it's sickening.

[lemondade]

03:54 PM on 01/21/2010

These beautiful creatures belong in the tropical forests (that greedy, ignorant humans are destroying!).
It should be punishable by jail terms for anyone taking these creatures out of their natural habitat!!!!!!!

[BudgieMan]

04:22 PM on 01/21/2010

Most birds do not come from the wild anymore. They are hatched in aviaries.

[alyseven]

05:21 PM on 01/21/2010

Yes, but they are still 100% wild. Being born in captivity does not mean they are not wild animals, just that they cannot survive in the wild. They are not domesticated. I have 3 adopted parrots and I believe that parrots should not be pets. Unfortunately, because they are captive-bred, they cannot be released into the wild. Pet stores need to stop selling birds and breeders should not be allowed to breed wild animals for the pet trade. There are enough parrots in rescues and sanctuaries for every American to have 16 parrots. But they keep breeding more and more and never giving any thought to the toll it takes on the birds. Furthermore, because they can live for so long, many will outlive their owners. Most parrots now already bounce from home to home to home because after a year or two, people get bored, the bird bites, they move, get married, have kids, etc and the bird is given up or resold. It's disgusting.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

07:15 PM on 01/21/2010

Why aren't "Murkans" content with one or two house pets? The reason for much of the isolation among the ageing cohort is simple: They're delusional, stubborn, bores..... All people without indulgent family to care for them should keep this in mind as they age.....!

[arizonaslim]

01:31 PM on 01/21/2010

What's going on here is called animal hoarding. Learn more at:

http://www.animalhoarding.com/