lovely birds for XMAS

[lesssandra]

I have hand raised hyacinth macaw amd afrcan grey for adoption.They are well trained and very lovely .They are all DNA tested and will love playing with kids.Contact me for more details

[rstowe]

Adoption is WONDERFUL.

I urge everyone thinking about getting a pet for a Christmas present to ensure they take everything into account first. Here is an article about puppies and Christmas from the UK (I'm sure the same kind of thing goes on in the US):

Council warns against buying Christmas present pups (18 December 2003)
North Lincolnshire Council is today making a plea to people to think hard before buying a puppy for Christmas. This follows worrying statistics revealed today that the council has already picked up 55 dogs so far in December across North Lincolnshire.
On average the council picks up 39 dogs a month. At this rate, this figure could double by Christmas.
The dogs picked up off the streets are a mixture of young and old. This could indicate that people are either getting rid of old dogs to make way for younger ones for Christmas presents, or buying young dogs as presents for Christmas and then realising they are too much to cope with.
If you are thinking about getting a puppy this Christmas, please consider the following:
Owning a dog is a lifetime commitment. The average dog lives for 13 years.
Dogs aren’t cheap to care for. You should expect to spend around £8,000 over its lifetime.
Puppies can be extremely hard work for an owner, particularly if there are young children in the house – do you have enough time to spend with your pup?
Dogs don’t come fully trained. They can cause a lot of damage to your possessions through chewing and accidents. How committed are you to training your dog?
Christmas is always a very hectic time of year with relatives and friends arriving. This isn’t the best time to introduce your new dog to the house.
Cllr John Briggs, Cabinet Member for Housing and Neighbourhood Services, said:
"This is a sad state of affairs. The council has so far picked up 55 dogs in December and it is worrying that this figure will rise even further over the Christmas period.


"I would urge people to think really hard before making the decision to buy a dog as a Christmas present. While it seems a good idea at the time, dogs need an awful lot of looking after. And the decision to buy one should not be taken lightly.


"While homes may be found for some of the dogs, not all of them are so lucky and may have to be put down.


"It is important to remember that a dog is for life, not just for Christmas."

[dlaura]

Great article Rich - thanks for providing it. One thing I can also point out is that birds live much longer then dogs or cats, provided they have the proper care. A macaw can live for 75 years or more, and I believe greys are known to live 35 - 50 years on the average so adopting one of these types of parrots is something that should be researched thoroughly as they are really, really a lifetime commitment and sometimes live on into someone else's lifetime. So please, please research and know what the commitment would be if considering adopting/rescuing any type of parrot.

One more word -- be sure to be aware of the noise level of these parrots because they may or may not be apartment type birds. All birds have noisey times of the days that you should be aware of.

[rstowe]

Great point Diane. I didn't take into consideration how much longer birds live than cats or dogs; definitely something people should consider if getting a "Christmas pet".