April 2011

Dear Humans, Birds and, of course, Elephants,   I had the most awful day this past Saturday.  A neighbor's dog got into my yard, where my chickens run free, and killed seven of them.   It was an accident, meaning the dog's electric fence collar failed,  and my neighbor was more than contrite, but my heart is broken.  All my chickens are as individual to me as our birds, dogs, cats and anything else we choose to love and keep as a pet, and the loss of these seven is terribly painful.  The dog has been there for eight years and nothing like this has ever happened before.   All the other chickens were scattered in groups all over my property and by nightfall I had found most of them.  Two of them are still iffy; one had been bitten and treated and the other seems  to have just been in shock.  I am hoping that they will both live and be alright, but that remains to be seen.      We have a special program tonight because it is being presented by a dear friend of mine, Steve Gottlieb.  Steve is a lawyer who works out of Kingston, NY and will be presenting a program on the legal responsibilities and liabilities of pet ownership.  He will also talk about the best way to provide for your pet, be it a bird or other pet, in your will. The Eagle Institute will present our program in May and June will bring the return of Dr. Laurie Hess, Board Certified Avian Specialist.    Aristophanes, Emma and Zeke are doing fine and so is Fritha.  I have been visiting with Fritha every week and bringing her comestibles that she periodically loves and abhors.   She no longer wants apples and last week, her consumption of sweet potatoes dwindled to only a few pounds.  Carrots, corn and now oranges are her favorites at this time.  Her tastes seem to depend on her mood at the moment........  For anyone new to this newsletter, Aristophanes is a scarlet macaw, Emma is a yellow naped Amazon parrot, Zeke is a cockatiel and Fritha is an Asian elephant. Speaking of elephants: I asked Robin to change our webserver from GoDaddy this month.  The CEO of GoDaddy is a sport hunter (I always consider that an oxymoron because there is no sport in taking away something else's life)  who went to Africa to kill an elephant.  His claim was that he was rescuing people in the village from a marauding elephant.  The elephant could well have been a problematic animal, but there are ways, in African and Asian countries, to deal with these unfortunate conflicts that involve relocation and unfortunately more lethal ways like killing the animals who destroy homes and food, and the marauding animals can be subsequently used for food.  They do not need the big white hunter "Bwana Jim" anymore.  The days of the "white man's burden" I thought was over.   This man who did this, this big life saver, did it because he goes to Africa to kill for pleasure. One pays a great deal of money to buy a license to shoot an elephant.   I will not be the president of  an organization who deals with such immorality,  I don't trust or respect people who like to kill animals.  We are a humane organization who cares for animals.  Realizing the problems and conflicts that are ongoing  in a world that is getting to be much too small with a fast growing human population and their need to survive, I still do not want to give money to support someone's business who enjoys killing so much that he goes, and has gone to Africa in the past, to kill elephants or any other animal for "sport".   The population of the African elephant has been decimated  due to killing, legally and illegally for ivory.  In 1978, it was reported that there were still 1,300,000 elephants in sub-Saharan Africa.  By 1988, a span of ten years, the population had been cut in half and the African elephant was designated an endangered species.  There are places in Africa where elephants are still numerous and come into serious conflicts with the people but there are governmental programs set up  to control this.  There are relocation programs and there are other, much more cruel, vicious and pernicious programs like culling.  Elephants and people have a very hard time coexisting in the same place on this earth.  Elephants need too much and people often want and take more than they need and there are, of course, many innocent people and elephants that get caught in this ugly drama.  I don't, however, believe that, no matter what this situation, that killing for one's sadistic and sick pleasure is the answer to this problem. I find the morality of sport hunting to be in the category of child molestation, not a very moral place at all.   Please understand, I realize that this is not about birds, and we are a bird club.  But, it is about humanity toward animals (which includes birds) and sharing our world with them.   This is also, not about hunting for food, but about the concept of hunting for sport, which is something I will never understand.  Have a good month and be very kind to every animal and every species of animal.                                                                
Love your birds and make sure they are a real part of your family.                                                                                                    

Love,                                                                                                     

Richie