That is GREAT Jonathan. The only thing I can think
of to add (at this moment) in the paragraph where you talk about how
easy it is to go in to a pet store and buy an animal - that these
pet stores are only required by law to provide a care-sheet (which are
often contain out-of-date/erroneous info) to send home with the animal.
--- On Wed, 7/14/10, Jonathan Harris <jonathanharris@earthlink.net>
wrote:
From: Jonathan Harris <jonathanharris@earthlink.net>
Subject: [Media-advisors] Lies and Misstatements draft
To: media-advisors@mickaboo.org
Date: Wednesday, July 14, 2010, 1:14 PM
Here is a draft of the proposed
"Lies and Misstatements" document. I did not answer every absurd
point the opposition made, but tried to dismantle what I thought were the
worst ones and the main ones they have woven together into their paranoid
narrative. It is longer than I wish it were. It may be OK for our Web site.
But if we want a 1-page informational flyer, e.g., it should be pared down.
Another set of eyes probably could do that better than I could. You may want
an entirely different introduction, or none, depending on the purposes for
which we want to use the final version(s). Needless to say, the document also
should be checked for the specific facts/statistics mentioned and the precise
wording of certain terms.
Jonathan
-------------
A great deal of misinformation is being
spread about the growing number of homeless, unwanted birds in the Bay Area.
Since the San Francisco Animal Welfare Commission first mentioned adding
small animals, including birds, to a proposed ban on the sale of dogs and
cats in the city, a coalition of breeders and pet store owners has attempted
to dismiss the problem and to discredit the organization whose
representatives brought it to the commission's attention, Mickaboo Companion
Bird Rescue. In testimony before the commission, in letters, flyers, and
emails, they have repeatedly distorted and misrepresented the practices and
purpose of this nationally respected rescue group, while denying the
existence of any crisis in unwanted birds and trying to obscure its root
causes.
By their account, hardly any homeless
or unwanted birds exist here (or anywhere else in the US). The crisis, they
say, is an illusion created by rescue groups like Mickaboo for our own
purposes. Mickaboo's agenda, they claim, is to profit from the adoption fees
we charge; pet stores — which offer customers greater choice — are
"competitors" for bird sales, and Mickaboo wants to destroy these
independent businesses, limiting people's access to birds. Mickaboo's
"high" fees and "burdensome" adoption procedures are what
create the appearance of a crisis, since they discourage adoption and produce
a backlog of unadopted birds. Mickaboo is a radical Animal Rights group whose
ultimate goal is nothing less than the complete prohibition of pet ownership.
This narrative is false from start to
finish. Some parts actually contradict others (why should we want to prohibit
pet ownership if our goal is profit from people adopting our birds?). Much of
it is paranoid, some of it absurd. None of it withstands any comparison with
reality. But it is not simply inaccurate, it is dangerously wrong in
diverting attention away from the real, emerging crisis in our city and
around the country. If you care about animal welfare or your rights to have
companion animals, please compare their misstatements with the facts.
THE BIGGEST LIE: There is no crisis of
homeless birds. Their numbers in shelters are insignificant compared to
impounded dogs and cats.
THE TRUTH: There is a huge and
growing crisis of unwanted birds. It has taken four centuries for the numbers
of homeless dogs and cats to reach the levels they have in America today. The
explosion of domestic parrot populations (now estimated at some 40-50 million
in US homes) has occurred only in the past 20 years, driven by the rise of
large-scale breeders and pet retailers in the 1990s. As people who purchased
birds on impulse confront the difficulties and cost of caring for these
complex, demanding, essentially wild animals, more and more are relinquishing
them, sometimes illegally releasing or simply abandoning them. Most of these
birds never reach shelters, dying from untreated illnesses and neglect at
home or from starvation or predation when released. The problem has worsened
during the current housing crisis and recession, as people losing their homes
are simply abandoning birds, sometimes entire aviaries, at an alarming rate.
Craig's List is filled with ads for unwanted birds. Mickaboo's annual intake
numbers have gone from about 35 in 2002 to an estimated 400 this year. If
that growth rate continues, the number will reach 4,000 by 2018. Rescue
groups and shelters cannot absorb such growth. Mickaboo currently has almost
400 rescued birds needing homes, and our volunteers' space to house them is
at capacity. Recently we have been forced to impose a moratorium on the
intake of cockatiels, although we know of many who need our help. All the
while, more birds continue to be bred and sold.
FALSE: Mickaboo hates pet stores
and wants to drive them out of business.
THE TRUTH: Mickaboo hates the
mistreatment of animals; we do not hate not pet stores. We don't want to ruin
businesses, especially small, independent ones; we just want them to stop
selling commercially bred birds. There are other business models pet stores
can follow that don't involve selling bred animals. In the Bay Area we have
both chains (Pet Food Express) and independent stores (For Other Living
Things, Santa Clara) that provide goods and services for companion animals,
as well as pet stores (Andy's, San Jose) that sell only re-homed animals). We
regret the effect banning bird sales might have on the income of pet stores
and their employees, many of whom genuinely love animals. However, the issue
cannot be reduced simply to the economic interests of these stores. So long
as pet stores promote birds as easy-care or "starter" pets, they
will create unrealistic expectations, frustrated owners and countless
miserable, unwanted birds. Moreover, even the most responsible pet sellers —
stores that treat their birds well and provide good information and guidance
to prospective buyers — are supplied by and support large breeding operations
that rival puppy mills in life-long cruelty toward their captive breeding
animals. Such extreme mistreatment of highly intelligent, emotionally
sensitive creatures cannot be justified, tolerated, or supported, even
indirectly.
RIDICULOUSLY FALSE: Mickaboo
earns profits through its adoption fees.
THE TRUTH: Mickaboo is a 501(c)3
organization, run entirely by volunteers. It does not make money on anything,
nor does anyone who works for it. Even without physical facilities or paid
employees, the cost of our rescue work is staggering. Many of our rescued
birds need expensive and prolonged medical treatment, and Mickaboo spends on
the order of $10,000 per month for veterinary care. Adoption fees defray a
small fraction (less than 15%) of those costs. The rest comes mainly from
donations and few, small fund-raisers. Our finances are a matter of public
record. What the records do not show are many additional costs that
Mickaboo's volunteers absorb themselves — food, transportation and toys for
their foster birds — to say nothing of the countless hours of skilled and
loving labor they give to emotional rehabilitation and socialization, getting
once neglected and abused animals to trust people again.
FALSE: Mickaboo's "high"
adoption fees and "burdensome" procedures discourage adoption.
THE TRUTH: Mickaboo's adoption fees are
in most cases less than what the same bird would cost if purchased from a pet
store or breeder. Our adoption procedure requires people to take a basic
bird-care class, fill out a questionnaire, be interviewed over the phone, and
have a home visit. We do not consider such requirements burdensome, in light
of the past treatment some of our birds have suffered, the investment we have
made in rehabilitating them, and the lifelong commitment we make to their
welfare. Nor should anyone who is serious about having birds in their home,
given the long-term responsibilities their care demands. We are not trying to
put up barriers to adoption. Our goal is to educate adopters and to be sure
they are able and willing to provide safe, healthy, and permanent homes for
our birds. Certainly it is easier to walk into a pet shop and buy a bird than
it is to adopt from us or any other reputable rescue organization. But
it is exactly that kind of impulse buying we want to discourage. A person too
impatient to go through an adoption process is probably not patient enough to
care for a parrot. Someone unwilling to pay a modest adoption fee is not
likely to spend the great deal of money that avian veterinary care will cost.
FALSE: Mickaboo refuses to work with
pet stores on finding solutions.
THE TRUTH: Besides working
with most of the Bay Area's animal shelters, Mickaboo cooperates with several
local stores, including Pet Food Express, Andy's Pet Shop in San Jose, and
For Other Living Things in Santa Clara, holding our public classes and
adoption fairs at their facilities. We are grateful to anyone else trying to
help animals in need, and we will be happy to work with other pet stores as
soon as they stop selling live, bred animals. We feel it is not helpful to
promote businesses that continue to sell commercially bred birds, thereby
creating the tragic problems we are working so hard to solve.
FALSE: Mickaboo is ideologically
opposed to people having pets and wants to outlaw it.
THE TRUTH: Mickaboo was founded
and is run entirely by people who love animals and have many in their own
homes. We could not devote the hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to
rescue and rehabilitation work if we didn't. Our concerns are simply that
people make informed choices about acquiring birds and be committed to giving
them the attention and care they need. We support responsible pet keeping in
many concrete ways. MIckaboo's Web site offers a wealth of information on
bird behavior, health and care for the public to read and download. Mickaboo
teaches free classes in basic bird care about every two weeks at locations
around the Bay Area. We also offer classes on more advanced topics ranging
from foraging to lighting to understanding bird body language. And every
person who fosters or adopts a bird from Mickaboo automatically becomes part
of an active Web-based discussion group providing support, expert, personal
advice, and sometimes emergency help to volunteers and their birds. Mickaboo
needs more caring, responsible people, not fewer, to join us in adopting and
fostering homeless birds — ours as well as the many beyond our reach.
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