World Parrot Refuge closing its doors

[Cedardave]

The World Parrot Refuge is a sanctuary on Vancouver Island British Columbia Canada.The woman who founded and operated it passed away earlier this year,leaving over 800 parrots from macaws to budgies.Surprisingly, she left no money or direction on what was to become of the sanctuary in the event of her passing.Since her death, volunteer staff have been operating the facility...but now the funds are running out and the buildings owner wants them out by august.I have seen several fundraising adds online, but it seems as thought time is running out for them.I sure hope the staff is able to relocate all these birds.This sounds like a monumental task.

[Mare]

Yikes!! :(. Dave, I know you breed birds and admire your strength when coming to place them with a new owner. Do you ever think twice about sending these newbies out there? Poor birdies..poor homeless birdies.. :(

This breaks my heart.

I'm seriously not wanting to start a debate. There are just so many parrots in rescues..this is sad.

[Cedardave]

Yes Mare I often reflect on if what we do makes sence.The fact is we do more education on the responsabilities of companion bird ownership.While we have lots of breeding pairs and do produce high quality pets...we also have a contractual agreement that should the new family to our birds become unable to care for or just decide they no longer want their bird...the bird must be returned to us...never resold or to a rescue.To date we keep in touch with those we have sent our birds to and have yet to have anyone surrender one.In the central part of the country where we live ,there are no legitamite rescues...lots of people claiming to be shelters or rescues,but they are in fact just bird flippers.I have had it out with one of these groups in a big way having heard from many of their customers they are scammers.Would I do this again?Well i believe the education componant of our operation is extremely important.We screen and have suggested one of our birds may not be a good fit for a number of people.We are by no means a large scale mill that churns out lots of birds.Rather we allow nature to take its course and they will mate and have young as their natural cycle dictates.In our case all but a couple pairs of our breeding birds were bought by retireing breeders and in several cases these birds were on the cusp of being euthenized as they were inconvenient to the owners at the time.So...I feel overall that we do whats right for our feathered family.Unlike many breeders...all our birds have names.We love and care for them all equally.We are exploring relocating to a larger space where our gang can have even more freedom to live their lives.I am proud to say I feel we are ethical breeders.While many may argue there is no such thing, we give our companions the best of everything.Would I do it again....I believe so.just so those who feel this is an unethical money grab...let me share a little known fact.Our cycle of producing birds fluctuates dramatically.There are many months where not a single baby bird is sold or available for sale.For us this isnt about getting rich.....that will never happen as a breeder unless one of our birds lays a golden egg.Our expences outway our sales income well over 10 to one.This is more a labor of love for us.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

The owner of the building needs a good talking to. It is all very well saying he wants them gone but if it comes to euthanasia he should be top of the list. Did he not do a risk assessment? He should never have let her build such a large facility - it was always going to end in tears.

[Dragonlady2]

I don't want to sit in judgment, but I wonder if it started out with good intentions. It wouldn't have taken long to get overwhelmed if she accepted every bird instead of limiting and adopting out. After awhile, her ability to see what was in the best interest of the birds would have been compromised by her need to "rescue" them.
I understand that quite a few of the birds are ill and require medical attention. No winners here.:(

[Lady]

This is sad to hear. I would like more information about what is to come of this. I'm going to do some research to satisfy my own curiosity and pray that the outcome is good for all involved.

[Cedardave]

According to their website,they have a world renound avian vet checking all the birds for illness an all have come up as healthy.I thing armchair quarterbacking this situation is expected.I suppose the bottom line is its very sad and I hope the staff will be able to pull something together before the deadline hits.As for the building owner...real estate in that part of the country is thru the roof.I guess compassion for sanctuary animals isnt putting money in his pocket.Im half a country away from all this...just thought I would share

[Dragonlady2]

Thanks for the update. Donations were being asked for to cover supplies and palliative care cages. Good to hear that the situation is not as bad as initially thought regarding the health of the birds.

[Dragonlady2]

Just an update. The WPR is in need of funds for vetting costs which are approximately $2000 per day. They also require cages, supplies etc. You are able to donate on their Facebook page if you feel so inclined.
It looks like Greyhaven is doing an awesome job getting the word out and organizing everything. Kudos to them.