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PITTSBURGH PARROT RESCUE

West Nile Virus Alert

Please keep your birds indoors especially in early morning and early evening hours.  West Nile virus can kill your birds.

Mission: Pittsburgh Parrot Rescue is a non-profit, volunteer organization focusing on educating the public on the specialized care that pet birds require. PPR accepts unwanted pet birds and adopts them to qualified applicants. PPR accepts found, abandoned, neglected and abused pet birds and rehabilitates them before offering them for adoption.  

The word "rescue" in the dictionary states "to save, as from danger or imprisonment."  This is what PPR does. We not only accept birds that can no longer be kept by their owners but the majority of the birds we have taken were abandoned to die, found outside and in immediate danger, found living in basements or closets and birds found living in horrid conditions that needed immediate veterinarian care.  Some organizations will only accept adoptable birds, but we are here to help the ones that need our help the most.  Every life is precious and we are here to save lives. Because of this, our medical expenses can be high, so please consider making a donation today. One way to make a donation is to visit our toy store and not only will you be helping birds in need of medicine, food and shelter but you can get a wonderful toy for your precious companion. 

Before considering owning a parrot you need to understand how difficult they can be

  • Birds are very loud
  • Birds are very messy
  • Birds demand tons of attention
  • Birds bite - some more than others
  • Birds are equivalent to having a 2 year old child for a very long time
  • Birds can live 20-80 years 
  • Birds are expensive to keep - food, cages, toys, vet care
  • Birds can resort to plucking out their own feathers if stressed
  • Birds are generally not good with small children

There are thousands of parrots being given up for adoption every year.  Some because of behavior problems but most because people just get tired of caring for them.  New babies arrive, new jobs, moving,  new marriage are just some of the reasons people give up their birds.

There is a lot to consider if you are planning on getting a parrot.  Think about their future as well as yours.  We are starting to see parrots being euthanized because there are not enough rescues to take them all.

Parrot rescues are mainly run by individuals on a volunteer basis. Most parrot rescues are run by a small group of animal lovers working full  time jobs and trying to help as many birds as they can in their spare time (none of us get paid for this service).  Funding for these rescues is virtually non-existent.  They rely on public donations in the form of memberships, making parrot toys to sell and small adoption fees to cover expenses. (100% of all funds raised goes toward food, toys and vet care for the birds). 

The homeless parrot problem is growing because of a lack of education on the part of the consumer. Most people don't want to spend any time learning about birds they just impulsively buy one only to find out that it was not what they expected.  

Please do your homework before taking on the challenge of owning a parrot.  Then consider adopting a bird. We can find the perfect bird for you, one that fits your lifestyle.  You can buy a baby bird, but that baby grows up and his whole personality changes.  I compare owning a parrot to owning a lion.  A lion cub will be cute and cuddly when young but once that lion becomes mature and the natural instincts kick in that lion can be hard to deal with.  Parrots have natural instincts that can make them difficult pets to keep once they become mature even if they are raised in captivity. Owing a parrot is nothing like owning a dog or cat. You can't spay or neuter a bird so you have to deal with hormonal moodiness.

If  you truly want to own a parrot learn all you can about them first.  Come to some of our seminars and read some good books. Hope to see you at one of our seminars.

 

 

 

 

 


Petfinder.com
See a list of birds we have for adoption