He was placed in a rescue a year ago due to an obsession w/my chihuahua that he was unable to shake and which turned him viciously aggressive, no matter how I intervened. A week ago, I had a strong intuition that Peter wasn't doing well, and I contacted the rescue. I had been told last December that Peter had been adopted into a new home, and I sent a huge gift box to him thru the rescue. I don't know why, but I had a weird feeling about the whole thing; after questioning the rescue intake person for several minutes, I found out that Peter was STILL in the intake foster home the NOT in a new home at all (so I had been lied to). I demanded to have him back, because I had a bad feeling about his situation, so I went and brought him home, and, as I no longer have my chihuahua (my exhusband has him), I thought Peter and I could work things out, as I love him dearly.

When I got there, Peter was in terrible shape, he had pin feathers as thick and as long as finger nails, and he was skinny, filthy and had horribly haunted eyes. He had not been kept in his large cage that I sent w/him, but in a tiny filthy one. The room I had been shown when the rescue woman did Peter's intake was NOT the room he was kept in-- he was actually kept in a garage with many other birds--the garage is not shown to visitors apparently.

In any case, now Peter is obsessed w/my older dog, who he used to show no interest in at all! No matter what I do to keep them separated, Peter is extremely aggressive, and has lunged and attacked me numerous times; he is also attacking my other parrots, and my dog. I am trying everything I can think of-- I want him to have out of cage time, and he does, about three hours a day, and lots of toys and all different kinds of food, but he is totally fixated on my dog. My dog doesn't like this, she is afraid of Peter. She is 12 years old and has never once tried to run away, but she is unhappy w/Peter around that she actually tried to the other day.

I refuse to take Peter back to the rescue, which is in Oregon and is a well known one. I also don't trust myself to find him a good home. Peter is very special, adorable and brilliantly colored as are all cherry heads; he is very bright, comical, and affectionate, but he needs to be in a home w/out dogs, and my dog is 12 and I cannot give her up.

I would be willing to drive all the way down to you, or if someone could meet me a bit closer than San Jose that would be great. I do not want Peter to be stuck in a cage for most of his life, he deserves a life of activity, interaction and fun. The times I have tried to play with him, at which point I separate him from my dog physcially, Peter actually tries to chew through the wall to get to my dog, and has made a few holes in the wall, and in my hands and neck and arms.

I have been reading up on parrot behavior, but I don't see a good solution. I live in a small apartment, so space is a limitation, I am on Social Security Disability, so money is a limitation too. I will gladly make a donation of 10/month for a year, you can get it automatically withdrawn from my checking account, if only you will take Peter in.