Cockatoos kept in a school, looks bad

[henpecked]

Perhaps it would be best to contact the school and get their side of the story. We have very little info to go on and would make an effort to get the whole story. In truth there's very little an organization like the SPCA could do, if the school is providing food ,water and shelter. Should they be able to seize any bird who's plucked? I think educating the school would serve the bird better than trying to get them in trouble.

 

[Betrisher]

I composed the following letter to the school and emailed it to the first email address I could find on their site. Hope it does some good!

"Hello Brother Roger

I'm afraid yours was the first email address I could find on the Kellenberg site, so I'm voicing my concerns to you. If a different person is responsible for this matter would you please pass my message on as a matter of urgency?

<snipped the OPs concerns and photo>

I hope you won't consider me presumptuous in alerting Kellenberg to the distress of the animals and asking for a quick remedy to their situation?

Information:
Parrots, and especially cockatoos, are extremely intelligent and sensitive creatures. Just as it would be considered torturous to keep an ape in a crate or a dolphin in a tiny pool, so it is tantamount to torture when a parrot is kept closely confined, unable to stretch its wings and unable to exercise its intellect. Under conditions like this, a bird will quickly go insane and begin to pluck out its own feathers and even mutilate its own flesh. This appears to be the condition of more than one bird kept in or by your school. Saint Francis of Assisi would be faint!

In addition, parrots require fresh water, fresh fruit and vegetables and pellets to provide the vitamins and minerals impossible to acquire in captivity. Parrots, being sensitive souls, are also far better off in a quiet environment where they can have refuge from noise and activity. This could mean a quiet room where respite can be had for a few hours each day or a flight aviary large enough to allow for a refuge place at a distance from the public. Assuming all of the above factors are in place, then all a parrot needs on a daily basis is a great deal of human or avian interaction. They are, by nature, gregarious birds and to isolate them is, again, a form of torture.

I don't know how long these birds have been housed at your school, but I would like to strongly suggest that a school environment is absolutely NOT the place for living, breathing creatures to spend their lives. The hubbub of daily school life would be far more than distressing to birds and the isolation during weekends would be likewise, a cruelty. Again, I would ask you to consider Saint Francis and his sermon to the birds - these animals deserve much better than the lot they seem to have drawn.

Thank you for reading this email and I very much hope it will be received in the spirit in which it was intended: to inform and advise rather than to criticise. Since I'm rather a long way away, I can't help in person, but I'm sure members of my parrot-keepers' group would be willing to do so. The birds need, at the very least, to be rehomed in private residences where good caging, diet and stimulation can be possible. Surely a school the size of Kellenberg would contain families willing to take on the lifetime commitment of helping a parrot in need?

My very best regards to you,

Betrisher
Newcastle, Australia

 

[BillsBirds]

I used to live near there, and have emailed 2 groups that may be able to help. If others do the same, hopefully, something will be done. The first is Bide-A-Wee Animal Shelter ([email protected]) , the second is North Shore Animal League ([email protected]). Let's do what we can for these poor birds!

 

[Blueridge]

I'll email the school when I get home. Hopefully we can help them.

 

[sofiaee]

Thank you guys so much! That email is really well worded, much better than I could do! And I love the tip to Saint Francis, hopefully they'll take this seriously

 

[sofiaee]

Let us know if you get a reply!

 

[PieMaster]

Students At Long Island Private Schools Learn Alongside Animals : Kellenberg Memorial High School

Sounds like it is not only the cockatoos they have there.

 

[Blueridge]

Students At Long Island Private Schools Learn Alongside Animals : Kellenberg Memorial High School

Sounds like it is not only the cockatoos they have there.

Yeah this school sure appears to be teaching it's children "caring, sharing, and responsibility." -_-

 

[DallyTsuka]

i know my high school had exotic animals (snakes, lizards, tarantulas, ferrets, etc), but they were all cared for very well. it was a science class, they were more for the students' enjoyment to really appreciate the animals. the only birds they had were ring necked doves. but the animals all had nice enclosures and privacy within them should they please. but this looks utterly different. i hope something is able to be done.

 

[leschornmom]

OK... So have you contacted the principal of the school? That would only be one phone call... Of course now that it's Thanksgiving week, will they be in session?
Could be that this is simply a lack of understanding or knowledge on the part of a well intentioned teacher.

 

[skylala]

I think people could be over reacting and jumping to conclusions. I just watched the video
Students At Private School Learn With Animals By Their Sides « CBS New York
And the animals (And birds) look well cared for to me.

You don't know the back story of this parrot. Maybe they rescued this bird after it was already plucked? Who knows. To go around slandering the name of this school based on nothing but a picture is a bit unfair.

 

[leschornmom]

So here's the deal, I live about 10 hours from the school. I would be willing to make the drive and pick up the bird/birds if they are willing to relinquish it... But I cannot keep it/them. (From the looks of their site... they wouldn't like their name dragged through the mud... so they might be willing) Is there anyone here that could take it/them in if I were to try to address the situation?

 

[SpotsandSally]

I think people could be over reacting and jumping to conclusions. I just watched the video
Students At Private School Learn With Animals By Their Sides « CBS New York
And the animals (And birds) look well cared for to me.

You don't know the back story of this parrot. Maybe they rescued this bird after it was already plucked? Who knows. To go around slandering the name of this school based on nothing but a picture is a bit unfair.

The tortoise looks to have prymaiding - though that could be from previous home or just the breed
The macaw is plucking
The ringneck is missing some feathers(fighting)
The ringnecks have NO privacy spot, no toys (they do like some toys), nothing. Just a cage. They need atleast half if it covered, their in the hallway for goodness sakes.
And I think anyone with common sense can say that the description says the cage is too small, not adequate food & any plucking parrot with insane behaviors does NOT need to live around a school.

 

[DallyTsuka]

I think people could be over reacting and jumping to conclusions. I just watched the video
Students At Private School Learn With Animals By Their Sides « CBS New York
And the animals (And birds) look well cared for to me.

You don't know the back story of this parrot. Maybe they rescued this bird after it was already plucked? Who knows. To go around slandering the name of this school based on nothing but a picture is a bit unfair.

i know you mean well by your comment here, but the cockatoo's cage is far too small. and in a school environment, he/she cannot be let out. to be confined all day long in such a small cage with few toys... it's mentally torturous to a sensitive creature such as a parrot, especially one of the most neediest and sensitive like a mollucan cockatoo.

i think, perhaps, the school might be willing to take advice and improve some things. that's an option too. it's not all black and white, no. but perhaps there could be room for improvement and they just need some pointers. ironically, though they are an educational facility, they might just not know the proper care and needs for parrots. there's no crime in ignorance if one educates themselves and works to improve it. perhaps this is just a case of ignorance and the school can work on things. i hope so anyways.

 

[skylala]

I think people could be over reacting and jumping to conclusions. I just watched the video
Students At Private School Learn With Animals By Their Sides « CBS New York
And the animals (And birds) look well cared for to me.

You don't know the back story of this parrot. Maybe they rescued this bird after it was already plucked? Who knows. To go around slandering the name of this school based on nothing but a picture is a bit unfair.

i know you mean well by your comment here, but the cockatoo's cage is far too small. and in a school environment, he/she cannot be let out. to be confined all day long in such a small cage with few toys... it's mentally torturous to a sensitive creature such as a parrot, especially one of the most neediest and sensitive like a mollucan cockatoo.
.

How do you know that is it's permanent cage? How do you know it is at the school every single day for the whole day? How do you know it has few toys? You're making a lot of assumptions based on a single photo and comment. In the video there is a macaw who is not inside a cage at all.

Obviously there MIGHT be something wrong. But people are really jumping to conclusions without knowing the facts yet. Maybe the parrots are there for one day of the week and home the rest?

 

[riddick07]

So I youtubed Kellenberg birds, figured high school kid couldn't resist posting something, and found this...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9A44yhlXiQ]The Birds of Kellenberg HS - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeTuuqmr7YI]Birds of Kellenberg 2 - YouTube[/ame]

They look alright in the first video, tho no toys and cage is small, but the second video not so much.

 

[sonja]

Smart idea, riddick!
Ugh, I want that M2!!!

 

[DallyTsuka]

oh geez, and in a glass fronted cage as well? cockatoos are a dusty dusty dusty bird... thats NOT healthy for its respiratory system. and really, i can tell you its extremely dangerous to be caging that ringneck, conure, and BUDGIE together. that's an accident waiting to happen!

that macaw looks pretty darn battered and looks like he needs more space as well... i doubt he can even spread his wings in that cage and the tail obviously is rubbing against the walls to be in that condition...

you know the saying, pictures speak a thousand words


im not calling the school evil or cruel. im just saying they might be open to try to fix things if they realize theres things they can improve.

 

[BillsBirds]

Though it is true that we do not know all the facts, I think we can all agree that a busy, noisy school is no place for birds. Those birds do not look happy, or properly cared for, to me. I stand by my position that those birds need some kind of intervention. I'm sure the school means well, but, as the saying goes, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

 

[getwozzy]

Watching that second video made my stomach turn...all of those birds probably get teased and riled up all day long, and the glass probably gets tapped and banged on. That poor cockatoo is obviously NOT a happy camper.