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plax
01-04-2016, 05:32 PM
Originally posted on July 3, 2015

I care about companion bird safety. I'm saddened and appalled by the "everyone should do as they like" carefree attitude boasted by folks who support allowing companion birds and larger predatory pets (cats/dogs) to physically intermingle. Many pet birds have unnecessarily lost their lives due to care provider decisions involving staged species-to-species physical contact scenarios, often for the purpose of creating sharable videos and still images. It's not only that I feel those who post such media items are placing human social benefit above the safety of their pets; it's also that media items showing "adorable" scenarios between predator and prey animals tend to inspire other pet owners to stage duplicate or similar dangerous activities with their own pets. People see such content and are encouraged to create their own similar content. And I'm convinced that's the most harmful element about the entire phenomenon.

The trend of showing dissimilar animal species physically interacting together is driven by the simple fact that people typically love to see cute and fantastic interactions between animals that are unnatural companions. But a lot of folks don't consider the aforementioned fact that one instance of such posted media content is likely to inspire multiple copycat instances. That is, it places more animals at risk exponentially. It's a perpetual phenomenon that results in a lot of dead and seriously injured small animals along the way.

Why do so many humans disregard this genuine and serious risk? And why do many of them vilify those who offer heartfelt warnings and relevant facts? Even when such warnings are courteous, many proponents of allowing physical contact between predator and prey pets will respond in a hostile manner. A common response is: "I know my pets very well and they would NEVER harm one another... mind your own damn business!" It's a sad fact, though, that many who have responded exactly in that manner have thereafter lost their bird or other small animal due to a preventable pet attack. And that is so very tragic. Those deceased pets certainly deserved a measure of safety in their lives.

There is a certain human personality type which tends to present with an individual believing that he or she has more control of external situations than is actually the case, or than is even possible. I think this explains why those folks mentioned above behave as they do. They tend not to consider history or statistics. Instead, they are committed to their ideals. Unfortunately, such ideals are often contrary to reality. And that would all be fine if it did not impose danger upon the innocent - as it often does :(

My words above address an important topic. At the very least, I think it deserves a reminder now and then.

spiritbird
01-04-2016, 07:23 PM
I totally agree. I have made comments on some you tube videos of people letting predator animals near their birds. Even going as far as encouraging the interactions. Comments came back "it's none of your business". Those unfortunate birds have no one to speak for them.

Casper's 2nd best friend
01-04-2016, 10:05 PM
In the UK people are prosecuted for cruelty to animals. The trouble is the cruelty has to happen for the people to be fined and banned from owning animals.
Education is the way forward.

Cedardave
01-06-2016, 02:06 AM
It often astounds me how cruel and stupid humans can be with animals of all sorts.Many seem to feel there is no value to their lives and the sole purpose is to entertain or serve us.I recall seeing a video of some genius feeding an adult bearded dragon a series of baby bearded dragons...while he and his drunk buddies laughed.Putting animals of any sort in danger on purpose is unacceptable.Since I would bet that most of us on this board love our birds dearly,but have likely all been caught off guard with a bite.....how can anyone guess what a "predator" would do with "prey".You cant teach them not to do whats instinctual.

Casper's 2nd best friend
01-06-2016, 01:02 PM
You cant teach them not to do whats instinctual.

That goes for most gun-toting trigger-happy humans as well. :(

plax
01-06-2016, 03:10 PM
It often astounds me how cruel and stupid humans can be with animals of all sorts.Many seem to feel there is no value to their lives and the sole purpose is to entertain or serve us.I recall seeing a video of some genius feeding an adult bearded dragon a series of baby bearded dragons...while he and his drunk buddies laughed.Putting animals of any sort in danger on purpose is unacceptable.Since I would bet that most of us on this board love our birds dearly,but have likely all been caught off guard with a bite.....how can anyone guess what a "predator" would do with "prey".You cant teach them not to do whats instinctual.Well said, Dave! You're absolutely correct. Anyone who is prone to subject their pets to such unnecessary lethal dangers for kicks, laughs or popularity, or simply because it's convenient or pleasant for one's family, can never know with certainty when that predator instinct may trip during a session of species-to-species physical access. Many such folks also tend to disregard the fact that it's typically impossible for a person to intervene quickly enough to save a pet during a predator-upon-prey pet attack situation, even when that person is positioned very near the involved pets. And it's important to note that pet birds are especially at risk... i.e., I've found that very few folks seem aware of the lethal threat posed to birds by Pasteurella bacteria - which is naturally present within the oral cavities of both cats and dogs, as well as upon the extremely sharp claws of cats. The reality is that every cat holds the potential to impose agonizing death upon any physically accessible bird with a mere swat of its paw. Assuming that we would never subject our human children to such lethal dangers, we certainly shouldn't subject our beloved avian friends to the same.

94lt1
01-06-2016, 11:33 PM
You'll love me.....today I was at Petco...had my baby girl with me..some dumb lady was letting her German Shepherd get way too curious..now baby girl trusts me...so I grabbed her in my hands and held her to my chest and quickly told the lady to get her damn dog before it became a statistic..

I said..if its a matter of making your dog leave..or my bird being killed..guess what I'm gonna do..

Mind you guys..I'm a giant..and I'm pretty frigging huge if I say so myself..so for me to threaten you..has to be unsettling..but I warned her a few times..and all the employees at this store know and love our birds..when I had time I would help them get their birds people friendly..then they sold tequila (a sun) to a lady and her dog got him..she brought the bird to the store .not the vet.. I rushed him to our vet but he died..and I said..if these are your customers...no more..yes I have a record of trying to save birds..I bet you all would too..if you were in the right place like I've unfortunately been..but it takes its toll..

Anyhow..she got the point and reigned her dog in..rain stayed under my shirt and poked her head out as we were walking out ....

plax
01-07-2016, 01:12 AM
Good on you, Brandon, for protecting Rain and penetrating the thickness of the lady with the German Shepherd! Maybe she'll think twice next time. At least we can hope. I'm terribly sorry to hear about tequila's fate :'(. There seems to be an insultingly huge number of people in this world who tend not to think (or care) about the risks they impose upon innocent animals :(

Albert
01-07-2016, 04:39 PM
Oh yeah, dogs can snap in an instant. Years ago , at a BBQ at my house, I bought my lil Maxie out to show off his skills. My daughters poodle mix bitch jumped up as soon as I sat down , knocked Max off my shoulder and had him in her mouth before anyone could even react. Thankfully a quick boot in the ass made the dog drop Max instantly, and no one was worse for the event, but I learned my lesson, especially with someone else's dog. As Tony reminded me the other day, even a lazy, couch lump of a dog ( like my Cairne terrier, who eats, sleeps and poops ) can snap just as quick ( Thanks Tony).