In late December, a Detroit, Michigan-based animal shelter received a phone call from a man asking for permission to bring “about 60 parrots” belonging to his father to the shelter.
In itself, such a number of these exotic birds was unusual, but the administration of the institution nevertheless agreed to accept them. However, the reality turned out to be much worse. The next morning after the call, the man showed up at the shelter with 497 parrots crammed into seven large cages. Three days later, the man returned to the shelter with an additional 339 parrots, bringing the total to a whopping 836.
Some of the birds had only recently hatched from their eggs and had to be fed by hand. Several other shelters came to the rescue, taking in some of the “new settlers”. The administration of the shelter is going to offer them for “adoption” to everyone who wants to, when in a few weeks the parrots will grow up enough and will be able to eat on their own. “Some of them, unfortunately, will have to be euthanized,” says shelter director Kelly Lebonty. “They literally sit on top of each other, strangling each other. They barely move.” Lebonti also called on all bird lovers to make a feasible financial contribution to the organization of care for the parrot “flock”.