Free Birds - More shelters should be like this!

[Chesphoto]

I started volunteering at rescue shelter because I wanted to help and because I love their adoption policy. You would think it is because they don't charge for their adoptions (can you say free parrots), but it is for something that I like even better.

They wait until they see that a bird is beginning to bond with you. Then they arrange for you to have a 2 day sleepover to see how everyone gets along. If all goes well, you have a 2 week stay, again to make sure the family is happy and the bird is happy. If all is going well, the bird is yours but you still have the support of the shelter.

This has eased so many of my concerns on making a life long commitment. I'm getting close to doing my first sleepover and I'm very excited.

Here is an article about the shelter in Peoria, Arizona. If you know of more shelters like this, please feel free to share them here for the other forum members that are looking to rescue a bird. Aviary Enthusiast Online Magazine

 

[crimson]

I don't see anything when I click on the link...could you try again??

 

[Chesphoto]

Sorry about that, it works for me... Here is the link for the magazine and it is the Feature Article under Contents. aviaryenthusiast.com

 

[legal_eagle]

I'm really glad to hear about their sensible policy toward adoptions. I've always wondered why shelters seem uniformly to charge a fee that is commensurate with buying a baby parrot ... seems to undercut their whole mission. Thanks for sharing this!

 

[MarciaLove]

that is awesome!!!! sounds a lot like the policy at Save The Horses a horse rescue I volunteer at

 

[Kiwibird]

What shelter do you volunteer for? I think it's a great policy to do the "trial" period to make sure the person is truly committed. I think it streamlines the whole process, and weeds out those unwilling or unprepared for what comes with parrot ownership without making it such a pain in the butt for the prospective "parronts" it turns them off the whole idea of adoption. I was rather unimpressed with how difficult TARA made it to adopt a bird. They wanted you to (pay) to take their classes on parrot care (regardless of your experience or how far away you lived) and their adoption form was outrageously long. I didn't mind paying a rehoming fee nor having a home inspection but classes and more in-depth paperwork than you'd fill out to adopt a child was over the top. I'm kind of embarrassed, because I don't remember the name of the rescue we went though to get Kiwi :11:, but I THINK it was the arizona exotic bird rescue. They were very nice, and seemed a lot more interested in actually placing birds in forever homes than TARA did. They were also very open to working with us since we live in Northern AZ and couldn't make millions of trips back and forth.

BTW the link, nor the website worked for me :-(

 

[BillsBirds]

The link worked for me. I think they are going about this in an intelligent & responsible way. Very similar to my own adoption procedure when I was actively re-homing birds.

 

[Chesphoto]

What shelter do you volunteer for?

It is called Fallen Feathers and is located in Peoria, Arizona.