!!Help us save Rudy!!

[lolsavannahh]

Hey guys.. I am not sure if I am allowed to post this here but I hope it's okay!

Please help us save Rudy from this horrible place!

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Rudy is an 8 year old harlequin macaw. He has never been to a vet and he is most likely sick from what I’ve seen. He is stuffed into this tiny cage fit for a caique or a conure. He is not a small macaw. His beak if very cracked and dirty, from malnutrition. He is given only seeds, which are covered in BUGS, and no veggies or fruits EVER. An animal with the intelligence of a toddler deserves better than this!

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He is harassed and poked at by other workers and customers at this shop he lives in. He was bought by a man 7 years ago, and was returned promptly with many behavioral issues and problems. Nobody will get him out of his cage because of his attitude and overall sacredness of humans. He is NOT mean or aggressive, just scared. He and I have been working together for several months and he LOVES to be pet through his cage, but won’t let me get closer once I let him out, although today, as if he knew we are here to help him, he let me pet him while outside the cage!

I try to let him wander the outside of his cage every time I go in, which is unfortunately only once a week for only an hour. He won’t let me pick him up and really gets scared if i approach him with my arm or open hand. He really needs more work and more people to love on him, but I KNOW he will be a loveable family bird one day!!

He plucks his legs, chest, and wings because of how uncomfortable and malnourished he is and probably how sick. You can hear the mucus in his nose when be breaths. He needs a vet which will cost probably upwards of 300$, but first we need to get him out of there and to the rescue!

I have been teaming up with the Papayago Rescue a little north of Atlanta Georgia, and they said if we can get the money they will take him. He is $900 but I think if we show $500 cash they will give him up.. unfortunately they don't even care enough to take care of him properly anymore. He has been sitting in that locked cage for EIGHT YEARS! Nobody takes him out, nobody plays with him, nobody cleans his cage except for me. Look how bad it is in this picture!

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We need a new, or gently used LARGE cage for him, and we will also need toys and perches as well.

If you can help in any way by donating even a dollar will help. You can find links to donate at their website ([Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]) and their facebook page ([Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]). If you do decide to donate please email/facebook message them afterward and describe that *blank* money you donated is to be used for Rudy! We need to help this bird and get him fresh veggies and love EVERY SINGLE DAY of his beautiful life. He is still young and he can be saved!

[plax]

Truly heartbreaking :'(. And it's entirely fine that you've posted this here, Savannah. Thanks so very much for your campaign to help Rudy!!!

[spiritbird]

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[lolsavannahh]

Thank you for that link and we will be using it as soon as Rudy is out of their claws.. We don't want to risk losing him in the process though. We have spoken with the owner and have sent many bad reviews trying to ward away customers, so we hope it will be shut down promptly!!!

[plax]

We have spoken with the owner and have sent many bad reviews trying to ward away customers, so we hope it will be shut down promptly!!!Good for you, Savannah! But is this a problem as far as your ability to continue working at the store as a volunteer during Rudy's remaining time there?

[lolsavannahh]

He does not know that the reviews are from me if that's what you mean. He knows I am not a fan of his views, but he appreciates me coming in and stuff I guess.

We had someone donate the money to cover the cost of the cage! It will be in soon and we are going to get him the day the cage comes in! I am very excited to be saying this, but we still do need some help with vet costs. He is sick, we suspect an URI, so the vet visit will probably be over $500. We really really appreciate everything that everyone has done, and are proud to say that Rudy will be home with us next week! Updates to come!!

[PlaxMacaws]

Is it possible to get an update on Rudy?

[lolsavannahh]

Yes yes! I've been meaning to update but I forgot completely... Here is the exact post I made to tumblr:

"we finally had that skype call with Papayago and we have had some major setbacks. John and Michelle ( the owners of the petstore ) know that Brianna ( Founder of Papayago ) works for the rescue and now will not sell him to her because he doesn't want her to go around and flip him to make profit ( which is obviously not our intention ).. so now we need a new random person to go in to buy him and also he is now VERY firm with 800$ cash and although we have that, that would leave us completely at a loss for his vet or perches.. and would also put the rescue back ( Groceries are over 200$ every 2 weeks (not to mention food, bedding, and toys.) so we need a lot of funding as it is. I have still been working with Rudy although I haven't been posting much on him and he has been a bit more trusting, he lovvveesss to come out of his cage now and play but still is reluctant to let me touch him in any way. I gave him some banana and apple the other day and he seemed to love it! His legs have been growing some new feathers it looks like, so maybe he's looking a bit better! He was supposed to be moved to a bigger cage in the petshop but then someone came in and wanted to board their moluccan cockatoo and so they took that new cage instead... We still want to get him out, but it seems like a bigger issue then what we initially hoped for.. There are other birds there who are very sick as well and we wouldn't want to just save Rudy and have people turn around and attack us for not saving the rest so we need to devise a plan to do something of the sort as well... I haven't been trying to keep you all in the dark, but I promise the more I know the more you all will too! He has become much more confident outside of his cage for sure as well and we have been working together a ton! Hope this is helpful! Right now we ask you don't make contributions directly for Rudy, but instead for the rescue in general if you wish to because of how the situation is going."

To add:

Rudy is very confident now and no longer lunges at the cage when I am near him, but still will lunge if he's out of the cage and I approach him. His plucking is equally as bad.. The moluccan is STILL there at the pet store, we doubt the owners are coming back, so Rudy is STILL in that small cage. We have had other birds come to the pet store that are much worse off then Rudy ( if you can believe it ) so we are not sure that Rudy would be the one we save if we were to save a bird from there, but like I said, it's getting very difficult to go forward. There is a green wing now who plucks her stomach, back, wings, and legs COMPLETELY bald unlike rudy who just does sections, and coughs and sneezes and weezes all day long. We really don't know how long she will last so if it ever goes to it we would get her before we try to get Rudy considering her state. All of these birds need to be saved but that's just theoretically impossible considering the sheer size of the number of birds they are keeping ( well over 300 )
Thank you for being interested and I will let you know the latest details from now on since you've shown interest. We never thought it would ever be like this and even though we thought Rudy would be out of there several weeks ago, we think it will be several more before he is.

[The Pinkertons]

Why can't you report them to aspca or other animal cruelty groups, this place could and should be shut down, local animal services. They keep it anonymous.

[lolsavannahh]

Well we've thought about it for sure! But ASPCA ( at least the ones near us ) is known to not be reputable, and them having all 300 of those birds would be no better than John. We are the ONLY bird rescue in the state of Georgia right now, the last 2 have shut down from lack of support or other reasons, so it's not like we have many other places those birds can go to either if we do happen to shut them down and take in birds.

The problem is, is that John and Michelle somehow know when the DOA is coming in for those special "surprise" visits and will have everything up to par whenever she walks in every time, so she passes them with flying colors. The ASPCA would look at this record before coming into the store in the first place, and see that there's nothing wrong and if they do find something wrong, then they would just give 2 verbal warnings before even doing anything at all.

I will try to get videos of the place/bird side of the store and show you how bad it is! The ASPCA is also known to be a kill shelter rather then a "lets find out what's wrong and treat it accordingly" kind of place. Although they do help lots of animals don't get me wrong, they would want to get those probably 400+ animals out of there before they were to try to treat every single one for whatever disease it has. They would most likely kill the sickest ones, and then try to get the rest out the door in the fastest way possible.

Also, as far as I know, there's really not any other animal cruelty group near us but we will check it out and I will run it by the Papayago to see if that's an option we are willing to try

[The Pinkertons]

Well we've thought about it for sure! But ASPCA ( at least the ones near us ) is known to not be reputable, and them having all 300 of those birds would be no better than John. We are the ONLY bird rescue in the state of Georgia right now, the last 2 have shut down from lack of support or other reasons, so it's not like we have many other places those birds can go to either if we do happen to shut them down and take in birds.

The problem is, is that John and Michelle somehow know when the DOA is coming in for those special "surprise" visits and will have everything up to par whenever she walks in every time, so she passes them with flying colors. The ASPCA would look at this record before coming into the store in the first place, and see that there's nothing wrong and if they do find something wrong, then they would just give 2 verbal warnings before even doing anything at all.

I will try to get videos of the place/bird side of the store and show you how bad it is! The ASPCA is also known to be a kill shelter rather then a "lets find out what's wrong and treat it accordingly" kind of place. Although they do help lots of animals don't get me wrong, they would want to get those probably 400+ animals out of there before they were to try to treat every single one for whatever disease it has. They would most likely kill the sickest ones, and then try to get the rest out the door in the fastest way possible.

Also, as far as I know, there's really not any other animal cruelty group near us but we will check it out and I will run it by the Papayago to see if that's an option we are willing to try
That inspector must not have been there in quite a long time. From the looks of that cage it looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years. Hard to imagine with 300 some birds in this condition to be up to par in short notice. Just for the record ASPCA is not a kill shelter. Possibly you meant the local animal shelter.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®) was the first humane society to be established in North America and is, today, one of the largest in the world.

Our organization was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans and must be protected under the law. Headquartered in New York City, the ASPCA maintains a strong local presence, and with programs that extend our anti-cruelty mission across the country, we are recognized as a national animal welfare organization. We are a privately funded 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, and are proud to boast more than 2 million supporters across the country.

The ASPCA’s mission, as stated by founder Henry Bergh in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.”

[PlaxMacaws]

Thanks for the update, Savannah. It's hard to imagine that a pet store has 300 birds. What's the point? And how does he manage to even provide substandard maintenance for 300 birds? Even with a few employees that's a huge daily task and responsibility! The building must be quite large as well. What a disturbingly bizarre situation :(

[The Pinkertons]

It appears to be more of a hoarding situation than a pet store. Contact the local animal shelter ( if you go in person to speak to them it would make more of an impact for them to take action , take you pictures )and explain to them you represent a rescue organization that Is certified , and you would be willing to work in tandem with them, to care for the birds , rehabilitate, and rehome, I am pretty sure that they would cooperate with your rescue Org. Shelters are already overflowing with unwanted animals and I know that they work with local rescues to help with abused animals. it is a law! . They have the authority ,To seize and shut down. Rescues collect and rehabilitate.

[lolsavannahh]

I will talk to the Papayago people tomorrow! To be honest I have been just sitting and waiting for a while but you guys have got me riled up again and this needs to be stopped!

I guess I probably am thinking of a local shelter and not the ASPCA itself, but I coulda sworn they said they were ASPCA and were a kill shelter ( but I am probably totally wrong XD )

Papayago have room for about 3 more birds LOL, we are so full right now it's crazy! So that's also a problem, but really, I will try and see what we can do!!