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                             PARROT

Say NO to Puppy ^ Mills!!

'PSSSST! Got any peanuts?'

When most people discuss breeding mills, the first, and usually only thing, that comes to mind are puppy mills. Most of the US is familiar with trying to stop the business of over breeding dogs because of all the birth defects from too 'pure' of breeding and the awful conditions these dogs live under, but what about the parrot mills? Only a select amount of people even know that parrot mills exist and what kinds of treatment and conditions these over bred parrots have to deal with. 

Any kind of animal mill is usually legal if the owner possesses a license. But, how does having a piece of paper give these selfish people the right to force these poor creatures into over breeding? Money. It's always about money. Parrots are over bred and sold around the world like their products, not caring about their overall health and mental stability.

 

Meet Maggie (Left) and Gracie (Right), two umbrella cockatoo's that were once residences at parrot mills. These girls were forced to over breed so much that they both have pro-lapsed cloaca's. Their cloaca is a single opening at the rear where they defecate, copulate, and lay eggs through. So, when they're over bred, their muscles aren't strong enough to stay closed, causing them to leak feces constantly. Parrots with pro-lapsed cloaca's must get shots to reduce hormone levels as well. It is extremely vital to remember that these parrots can not be touched inappropriately on the back and under the wings, but only on the head. If they get over stimulated, they run the risk of loosening their muscles even more, which could cause their intestines to fall out. If this happens, the risk of death is very high if not treated quickly and/or correctly.

Maggie

Gracie

 About a week ago, Gracie became overstimulated when they were moved to a different area, causing her intestines to start coming out. I was actually the one that noticed the incident at first when I went to go talk to the girls. I noticed there was blood coming out of her cloaca and as I looked closer, I noticed something bulging out of her. Instantly, I started to panic, because I was clueless to what was happening. Wendy, the avian vet tech, came and tucked her intestines back inside of her until she could get stitched up the following day.

Her cloaca is bleeding in this picture (Notice the red)

At the clinic, I was allowed to observe Gracie get her intestines readjusted and two sutures put around her cloaca so that her opening wasn't as big. The sutures are made to stay in as long as they can last and when they fall out, she'll have to get stitched back up again. After a few days of getting stitched, we started to notice that she wasn't going to the bathroom. We feared that the sutures made her opening too small and she wasn't able to relieve herself. We then decided to have one of the Veterinarian's come and check her out. She ended up having one suture removed and after the doctor inspected inside her cloaca, she finally started relieving herself. 

 
 
Gracie, pictured above, acting silly after she was finally able to go to the bathroom. Through all the hardships and neglectful situations she's been put through, she still manages to be one of the sweetest birds that that I've ever had the honor of meeting. I hope one day Gracie and Maggie can find a forever home where they don't ever have to remember their painful past. These two parrots are so inspirational and full of life that I can't help but to love them unconditionally.