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 made up mostly of breeders and pet store owners has attempted to dismiss the problem. Some in that group also have tried 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, opponents to the ban, they have 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. They also claim Mickaboo's "high" fees and "burdensome" adoption procedures are what create any appearance of a crisis by discouraging adoption and producing a backlog of unadopted birds. They portray Mickaboo as a "radical Animal Rights group" whose ultimate goal is nothing less than the complete prohibition of pet ownership. 

In addition to being silly, 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?  Why do we have such a burdensome process if we are trying to complete with stores that sell birds to anyone who walks in the door?). 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 healthy, happy companion animals, please compare their misstatements with the facts. 

FALSE: 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, industrial breeders and pet retailers in the 1990s. Even small parrots like cockatiels can live 30 years, larger species 50–100 years, but their human companions often tire of them long before that. As people who purchase birds on impulse confront the difficulties and cost of caring for these complex, demanding, essentially wild animals, many 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. And as the American population ages, more people are having to relinquish long-lived birds because they can no longer care for them. Craigslist is filled with ads for unwanted birds. Mickaboo's annual intake numbers have gone from about 35 in 2002 to a projected 500 this year. If that growth rate continues, the number will reach 5,000 by 2018. Rescue groups and shelters cannot absorb such growth. Mickaboo currently has 375 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.  And Mickaboo is a fraction of the total in California, never mind in the U.S.

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 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 (Sunset Pet Supply, San Francisco; For Other Living Things, Sunnyvale) that provide goods and services for companion animals, as well as pet stores (Andy's, San Jose) that sell only re-homed animals). There are some 20 pet stores in San Francisco that do not sell animals.  We regret the effect banning bird sales might have on the income of some 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. 

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 in it. Even without physical facilities or paid employees, the cost of our rescue work is staggering. Mickaboo makes a lifelong commitment to each bird it rescues and will take back any of our adopted birds and foster them again for as long as necessary to find permanent homes or for the rest of their lives. Many of our rescues need expensive and prolonged medical treatment, and Mickaboo spends on average more than $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 a few, small fund-raisers. Our finances are a matter of public record. What the records do not show are the 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, teaching 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 these 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. Pet stores are only required by law to provide a one-page care sheet (sometimes not provided, often containing out-of-date or erroneous information) to send home with the animal. 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 money that avian veterinary care or healthy food 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 Sunnyvale, 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. It is not helpful to our cause 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 our 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 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.  

If you are interested in adopting or fostering a bird or would like to attend one of our classes, volunteer or donate, please visit http://www.mickaboo.org/ or phone 650-450-9104.