October 2012

Hello Humans, Birds and, of course, Elephants,   The leaves are beautiful, the air is great, the rain does not bother me, I love this season and our show is Sunday.  I am excited.  Our Twenty First Pet Bird Show.....Our attempts to sensitize people to the needs and wants of birds that are kept as companions, and to leave the wild birds alone and let them live freely without the interference of the rapacious pet industry is a noble task. We, through our club and our shows, do a great job at it.  Once again, our club is "for the birds" not the bird industry.  We, who at one time thought that domestic breeding was the answer, now realize that is not the case.  As I have stated so many times before, there should be a moratorium on all breeding for the pet industry until the birds that need homes, and there are so many of them, are in homes.  That is permanent, loving homes where they are with people who truly understand what they need and will give it to them.  Also, the pulling of infant birds from their parents to hand feed is cruel.  Yes it makes more money for the industry, but it is a horrible cruelty.   That being said, I hope all your birds are happy and healthy.  I hope you are giving them the attention they need which is not often an easy task.  Please encourage people, who want a pet bird, to adopt one that needs a home rather than going out to buy a new one.  There are so many out there and they are so needy.  My birds are doing ok.  Aristophanes is dealing with his allergies, but so am I, not fun for either of us.  Emma and Zeke are enjoying their life.  Unfortunately, I can't have them out all the time like I wish I could.  Emma becomes very destructive, if not constantly watched and Zeke has his nemesis, my cat Simon, so his freedom has been curtailed as well...I  know some other people whose birds are loose all the time and that is fantastic for them.    I hope all our members are reading and enjoying the newsletters and circulars I send as emails.  These are very interesting and are full of information of what is happening to birds in captivity and in the wild. My job in the show, in education, is to explain each species we show so people can learn what they are like as a pet and what the status of their free flying brethren is all about.  Please enter your birds in our show.  If you don't think they can win the breed category, we have some other prizes this year that we will present to those birds who did not win their breed....personality prizes, we have a fun judging and this should just be more fun.    We have two judges this year who will work together, Ellen Kalish and Lisa Acton.  They are both bird rehabbers who have a great knowledge of parrots, finches and other birds kept as companions and we are so grateful to them for giving us their time and energy.  Our two vets this year, who will check in the birds that are entered in our show are Dr. Rick Stein, who has been with us since the club began and we welcome Dr. Joe D'abbraccio, who will be working with Dr. Stein.  There are so many people to thank for everything they are doing to make our show bigger and better than ever.  We have a new venue, The Liberty Firehouse and we expect things to be wonderful.   Tonight Dr. D'abbraccio will be our guest speaker and we are very excited about that .  He is a new member of our Avian Vet family and I am so anxious to hear what he has to say.  Next month Wild bird Rehabber Lisa Acton will be our guest speaker and we have a great holiday party and penny social set for December.   Our plate is full and I hope to see everyone at the show..........Be well and happy and kiss your birds, humans and elephants.                                                                                           

Love,                                                                                            

Richie