Hello-
SF Animal Welfare Commissioners Philip Gerrie and Pam Hemphill came to my house today and spent an hour and a half meeting Tookie, my green-cheek conure, Tweety, my foster lovebird, a pair of foster doves and a whole lot of pigeons. They were very interested and had lots of questions and were surprised to learn that things like teflon and cigarette smoking and candles and unsafe toys, etc. are so dangerous to birds. Then we went to see Mickaboo Pam's foster birds which include a ringneck, a sun conure, a budgie flock and two little conure friends- Bruno the nanday and Caesar the mitred. They spent an hour visiting Pam's flock and got a good introduction to the noise level that even small birds can deliver.
They are definitely learning about why birds make challenging pets and that selling cute baby parrots too often results in inadequate care and endless rehoming. Right now, they're wondering if it would be possible to require education and "certification" for folks who want to buy parrots...
Also- they are really excited that Mira will be presenting to the Commission and are hungry for information about the scale of the problem and evidence that supports it. I am using, from Mira's book Of Parrots and People, the quote that "it is estimated the average parrot will be rehomed 7 times in the first 10 years of its life" and they are blown away by that and would love to know the source of that estimate.
Vinny & Mary- thank you for your offers to show them your flocks. I don't know if they would be willing to make any more visits but I will send an email to them (cc-ing you) with the offer.
Pam- thank you SO much for making time for this on such short notice and when you have so much going on. I and they really appreciated it.