I don't know if mentioning the "aging population" (baby-boomers) is important or not

“Aging” is a relative thing, IMO. I am seeing many cases as cockatiel coordinator where people adopted from us years ago and are returning their birds to us because of lifestyle changes, etc. A boilerplate response to this is that economic times are tough so people can’t keep their birds, but this doesn’t work for most of the re-entries I’m dealing with. I think that we’re on the edge of a cliff here.

Belle is just one recent example. She was adopted about 8 years ago and her adopter is now going through a divorce and “doesn’t think she will be able to keep her.” Apparently she is not even trying to care for Belle, as Belle suffered some kind of serious injury or illness 4+ months ago (is barely able to walk, falls off perch frequently, etc.) and the adopter didn’t bother to get care from an avian vet or arrange Belle’s cage to give her easier and safer access to food, etc. Her rationale seems to be that eight years is a long time so she has, somehow, fulfilled her obligation. As we know, eight years is less than a third of a cockatiel’s potential life span if well cared for!

I know that some people are sick of hearing this from me, but, if we’re struggling to place so many birds that were born 8, 10, 20 years ago, where are these tens of thousands of birds being warehouse-bred today going to go?! I don’t think that many people grasp the enormity of this crisis. The “Facts” document might not be the right place to discuss this in detail but I do want to be sure that people are aware of it. To phrase this another way: lots of people are expressing appropriate concern about older dogs, 8+ years, who aren’t wanted any more. Cockatiels live more than twice as long as dogs and lots of people are getting tired of them just as quickly.

--VH