I don't know where to put this post, but i just have to let everyone know about it. A couple of days ago, our neighbor's friend was in town and he had his Blue and Gold with him. Ofcourse being a bird lover I just had to introduce myself to the bird and what a horrific thing that i discovered. They had his bottom beak cut in half so that he cannot bite. the other half of the beak just protruded out. So trying not to show my anger (which was hard to do, I wanted to tell him how ignorant he was, but kept my temper)i decided to ask more question about the bird. They where from out of state and just visiting they where actually from North Carolina. So I ask why they had it done to his beak. And they told me that the vet actually told them about the procedure and told them that it will not affect his health or the way he eats. The only thing that it will do is hinder him from biting anyone hard enough to make some damage.
(so inspite of it all i stayed calm, i just kept talking to myself) So i said, Hmmmmm very interesting. I never heard such a thing before. Is it a new procedure? and they told me, it is normally done with breeding parrots, so the male cannot harm the female. So i ask them if they can give me the number of the vet and i told them i want to talk to him more about the procedure. So i was able to get the number.

I held charlie the blue and gold, and he just laid his head against my chest. At that point I could not help but cry. I felt so sad that such a thing can be done to this animals. They ask me if there was something wrong. So i told them in a nice way how i felt.

The lady was surprised to hear me talk with so much compassion about a bird that I hardly knew. I told them that they should have not done what was done, They assured me that he could still eat and crack his favorite nut. And i told them that, it does'nt matter. I told them that i don't believe that if charlie can say how he feels, he would ask them why? They said that charlie was one of their breeders. But after his first mate died, every female that was introduce he would just either bite them or if given a chance he would kill the female. and that's why they decided to get the procedure done. So i ask them if he has a mate now. that this procedure was done. And they said no. And that's why he has turned back into a house pet. I told them, that it's so unfair that they did not get the hint before they did this to the bird.

All the time I had charlie's head leaning against my chest. Cooing like a little baby. They said that he is never that cuddly to anyone. I said that he knows that I understand how he feels.

When they tried to get charlie back, he tried to snap at them and the stupid husband said, oh he always does that. I just told them yeah (but deep inside i wanted to tell them that the bird don't like em).

I have tried to call the vet. But everytime i would dial the number I just want to say bad words to him. So i decided to throw the number out and forget the whole thing.

But, I can't forget the whole thing. deep inside it is just wrong, i needed an outlet and that is why i'm telling you all this. I might just be a little person, but i know that if a lot of us can just get together somehow we can do something about it. I know that if it is being done to one bird, how many other bird that is out there, has had this done to their beaks? I don't even want to know the answer. Must it be that we already cut their wings and then this? what else? I don't want to know.

I write with a heavy heart, I hope that no more birds need to go through this. This is just bad, very bad. I have been in the bird business for 5 years and has had birds for 15 years, and never have i seen anything as horrific as this.

I hope i have made whoever read this more aware of what this inteligent creature has to endure in our hands. If we did not bring this creatures into captivity none of this would have ever happened. But because of the human instinct of needing to domesticate everything exotic, we have taken them from the wild to be a living decoration to be awed and admired, not knowing that they are more than just beautiful birds.

Through the years we have learned from our mistakes, and a few of us have learned to treat them more like how it should be, our companions. But still, there is a lot that we don't know about them. Let us learn to love em and rule them with love and not fear. Let us make their cage not a place of punishment, but a place, that they are willing to call home. We have clipped their wings and have taken their right to fly, away from them. And inspite of that. we never heared them complain. They still would come up to us and ask to be petted and love, to be cuddled and played with. Inspite of the abuse and neglect that some of this creature suffers in our hand, if given a new home ,they still will soon forgive the wrong doings of other and learn to love.

Maybe it's time that we learn something from them. Let us always remember, you can take them out of the wild, but you will never be able to take the wildness out of them. Love your parrots but give them respect, that much they at least deserve.

stinky and me