Wanted to let you know about this king pigeon, he came in with a buddy and both seemed to be doing fine the first week here. He now feels quite thin and fluffy while his buddy is still healthy and robust, so if you would be interested let me know. The healthy k.p.'s A number is : A286448. I'll be here this weekend.
To:
From: Elizabeth Young < adoptkings@gmail.com >
Date: 07/07/2010 01:21PM
Subject: A Letter from Mickaboo Founding Director About the Proposed Ban on SF Pet Sales
Hello-
I wanted to share with you this letter from one of my most respected heroes.
My name is Tammy Azzaro. I am a founder and director of Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue and a Registered Veterinary Technician in California. Mickaboo is an all-volunteer non profit bird rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming organization. We take in the abandoned, unwanted and surrendered birds from individuals, pet stores, shelters and veterinarians when the birds need medical care, socialization and placement.
I wanted to write and express my support of the proposed ban on pet sales in San Francisco.
San Francisco has always been at the forefront of positive change so I am thrilled at the prospect of "my" city adopting such a progressive policy.
I know there have been a lot of arguments from local pet store owners who will be financially impacted if this ban takes effect. However, the positive economic impact this ban will have on government run shelters which often end up with unwanted and/or abandoned pets can not be overlooked. It will definitely have a positive impact on our rescue intake numbers. When I started Mickaboo Rescue nearly 15 years ago, we were dealing with approximately 25-30 birds per year going through our system. Now, we have hundreds of homeless birds and in 2009 we took in over 400 birds, most of which originally came from pet stores. Also, at that time, it was very rare for us to get in the larger species like Macaws, African Greys and Amazon Parrots. Now, due to the rampant availability of these species at pet stores driving their monetary value down and the ease with which anyone can purchase one through a pet store setting, we have hundreds of those larger species coming in annually as well. Many of these birds have been neglected or abused to the point of excessive screaming, aggression and self mutilation. You can see the sheer number of homeless birds in our organization alone on our website:
www.mickaboo.com
Many people know about the horrors of puppy mills, the negative effects such places can have on the socialization and medical health of dogs and the huge over-population problem most California cities have with cats and dogs. However, not many people see bird over-population as a problem. I can attest to the fact that bird over-population IS a problem and is getting worse every year. Mickaboo works through a network of dedicated foster homes and we can not keep up with the constant need for homes. We have to prioritize the sick, injured and shelter birds and we have to regularly turn away healthy, well socialized birds due to lack of space in our foster system. If this law passes, it will stop the flood that has been building in San Francisco over the past decade. If we do not do something to protect these special animals, we will see more and more end up at shelters and being euthanized due to lack of space. Although birds are smaller than most dogs and cats and take up less space at shelters, their care requires more specialized knowledge so the pool of potential homes is smaller. Also, their life-span is much longer than most other pet animals so that makes it much more difficult to secure them a lifelong home. If SF adopts this new ban, I can assure you there will still be plenty of birds in the shelter and rescue systems for folks who want to add a feathered friend to their family. We can provide data that shows the number of birds we have available for adoption now vs. just several years ago to show the staggering increase which will only get worse over time.
As a long-time rescue worker, bird lover and San Francisco native, I ask that you please support the pet store sales ban. This ban does NOT mean 'no pets' for San Franciscans---what it means is 'homes' for those we already have in our shelter systems.
Sincerely,
Tammy Azzaro, RVT
Director, Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue
Please join us Thursday, July 8th at 5:30pm in San Francisco for the Animal Welfare Commission meeting, which will be held at:
San Francisco City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 408
San Francisco CA
Your presence to support the well-being of all rescue animals as well as companion/pet birds will be greatly appreciated. ALL ARE WELCOME - SF RESIDENCY IS NOT REQUIRED.
Thank you.
e