I received a response from the vet saying that she is not willing to submit a written statement about the Preferred Birds facility but she said it is a bird mill. I googled it and it is outside Pennsacola FL at 7999 ARMSTRONG RD, MILTON, FL, You can select the satellite view and see the big warehouse where the birds are raised. This is ground zero for the national psittacosis outbreak in 2007 – 2008. I think that is why all the breeders talk about the antibiotics given to the birds. Sally Blanchard did an article in 2000 on her website about Preferred Birds and their attempt to buy birds at an Sacramento avian society. If we want information about Preferred Birds, Sally might have more recent information.

 

From: Karen Watkins [mailto:karen.watkins@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 7:05 AM
To: 'Mickaboo media advisor team'
Subject: RE: [Media-advisors] Fwd: ACWC Minutes posted from July 8th meeting

 

As for the bird mill, one of our amazon adopters is a vet in Tracy who interned at the Preferred Birds facility in Florida. She spent the entire time feeding baby birds. She might be willing to provide info about the bird mill.

 

Karen

 

From: media-advisors-bounces@mickaboo.org [mailto:media-advisors-bounces@mickaboo.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Young
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 9:29 PM
To: Mickaboo media advisor team
Subject: [Media-advisors] Fwd: ACWC Minutes posted from July 8th meeting

 

FYI

and

 

I don't know what the S A F E concept is unless it is another name for Teresa's SPARC program.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Philip Gerrie <glassgerrie@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 9:26 PM
Subject: ACWC Minutes posted from July 8th meeting
To: SaveABunny@aol.com
Cc: Elizabeth Young <adoptkings@gmail.com>, jonathanharris@earthlink.net, Teresa Murphy <teresa@cavyspirit.com>, Sally Stephens <stephensfw@mindspring.com>, Pam Hemphill <pam.hemphill@gmail.com>, "Elliot M. Katz DVM" <emk@idausa.org>

I like it!  Well done!

 

The minutes from the last meeting are now posted at, http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=2216. It's worth a read through to hear what everyone said and possibly respond to in public comment this Thursday. 

I'll stop by the one on Church at Cesar Chavez tomorrow.

 

Philip

 

 

 

On Aug 9, 2010, at 9:04 PM, SaveABunny@aol.com wrote:

 

HI All,

Any thoughts on the  S. A. F. E. Concept?

Is anyone able to contact stores?

 

Marcy Schaaf
Founder, SaveABunny
www.saveabunny.org
www.saveabunny.etsy.com
415-388-2790
"A New Generation of Rabbit Rescue"
Save A Bunny. Save A Life.

 

In a message dated 8/9/2010 7:02:45 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, adoptkings@gmail.com writes:

Hello-

 

I asked this and got the response that follows.  I thought it merited being shared.

 

e

 

One of the biggest, most consistent refrains of bird sellers Rick French & Claudia Hunka are that there is no such thing as bird mills.  This was repeated by all the Bird Clubs as if not producing litters of 12 puppies/kittens quarterly means a breeding bird's life is humane.

 

Can you please help to cite evidence regarding the existence of bird mills?

 

Any help on exposing this lie would be much appreciated.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mira Tweti <miratweti@parrotpress.net>
Date: Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 6:43 PM
Subject: Re: "No such thing as bird mills"
To: Elizabeth Young <adoptkings@gmail.com>
Cc: Mary Long <atechi2@yahoo.com>

By definition any bird breeding facility, that is operating by basic industry standards, is a bird mill.

 

Get the definition for a puppy mill and swap out dog for parrot. The parent birds are kept in barren cages their whole lives. No enrichments, just a perch, nest box, food and two parrots period for their decades-long lives. And most breeders seal off the sides with metal sheets so they can't see the parrots in the cages around them. Bird breeders don't want them to be distracted! They figure w/out distractions they'll just breed round the clock.

 

There are no baths, or if there are, they're only in cases where it's a warm climate and they get hosed down with the cage when it's cleaned. They can't bathe at will ever. These places are not set up for the comfort of the breeder birds. Breeder birds are just pieces of an assembly line. It's factory farming parrots.

 

The babies are taken from them before they're weaned so these breeder birds have nothing. The vast majority, of all kinds of species, are featherplucked. 

 

That's a parrot mill and any breeder with pairs of breeder birds living without toys, baths, a large enough cage to be comfortable (they keep them in the smallest cages possible. Less room to move = closer proximity to the mate & supposedly = more sex. Not. And smaller cages = more room for more breeder pairds.

 

These hard conditions exist because the majority of people are treacherous to non-human animals in general and with parrots it's so hard to breed them they go to extraordinary lengths to try. Obvious fact is they, especially the larger birds which are the hardest to breed,  are not meant to be bred in captivity. Duh.

 

It doesn't matter if a breeder has forty  pair or four hundred pair, it's a parrot mill if the dynamic above is in place and knowledgeable sources I found when researching my book said to a one they are all parrot mills without question.

 

 

Here are the links to "Parrots in Peril" the expose' on Martha Scudder, a breeder with 800 parrots. She kept them in a concentration camp like situation for decades and she still does. Even after a Sunday cover story in the Tacoma News Tribune (she was in that county) she wasn't shut down. There were city council hearings you can't imagine. The anti legislation faction did what they did at the hearing last month in San Fran only it was worse in Tacoma. Way worse. 

 

This was the lead story and there were several sidebars I wrote as well. All told it was a 10,000 word expose! Took up the entire first section of the sunday paper. The only one I found online at the paper's site was the lead. So I'm attaching the one on factory farming of parrots as a PDF. And any other elements I find that was part of this big expose'.  Took 7 months to do.

 

Parrots in peril | Parrots - The News Tribune

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2005/12/18/367102/parrots-in-peril.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Aug 9, 2010, at 12:44 PM, Elizabeth Young wrote:

 

Hello-

 

One of the biggest, most consistent refrains of bird sellers Rick French & Claudia Hunka are that there is no such thing as bird mills.  This was repeated by all the Bird Clubs as if not producing litters of 12 puppies/kittens quarterly means a breeding bird's life is humane.

 

Can you please help to cite evidence regarding the existence of bird mills?

 

Any help on exposing this lie would be much appreciated.

 

e

--
Elizabeth

Until they all have homes, don't buy, don't breed- adopt.
www.RescueReport.org
www.MickaCoo.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGjyooh3Yo0

 

 




--
Elizabeth

Until they all have homes, don't buy, don't breed- adopt.
www.RescueReport.org
www.MickaCoo.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGjyooh3Yo0

 




--
Elizabeth

Until they all have homes, don't buy, don't breed- adopt.
www.RescueReport.org
www.MickaCoo.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGjyooh3Yo0