In The Wake Of Katrina - Animal / Bird Hoarding Is More Than An Issue!

Who would have ever thought that the largest natural disaster in the entire history of the good ol' USA would have brought about an open opportunity for true hero's to be slandered while the more covert operators were to be left unnoticed? Well, that's just what's happenin' folks, right here in our own backyard.
We have heard about the mis-management of government agencies both local, state and federal during the rescue operations performed immediately following Katrina. Most of those reports centered around human lives. But what about the animals, in particular, the companion birds? Not much was said, if anything, about them on major news group channels. Perfect opportunity presented.
Perfect opportunity for bird hoarders to creep in, under the guise of rescuers and sanctuaries, to scoop up all of the abandoned, displaced and desperate birds! Many of these birds are exotics. EXPENSIVE exotics. The common bird hoarder/collector knows exactly what their value is, both to sell and trade as well as to use for breeding stock.
Many a bird was literally snatched up and then quickly and quietly wisked away to someone's van, garage, cellar or backyard. No one knows these birds are displaced, except the previous caregiver, the bird and .....the hoarder/collector/trader. No one is the wiser that these birds are alive or dead. The breeding and trading ensues without further ado.
The next thing we know, in this already confusing world of "civilty" for avian exotics, these "not-quite-domesticated pets" begin to exhibit signs of stress and trauma. They begin to pick and pluck their feathers, become increasingly aggressive to the point of being down right mean and nasty attacking anyone attempting to handle them, or, on the flip side, timid, bashful, fearful. They may resign into a dark world where they become anti-social and slowly dwindle away to nothing more than a skinny body with scabs from self-mutilation, a few feathers on their head where they can't reach to pull them out. Their physical and emotional health may decline rapidly, or slowly, depending on the immediate situation and how many times the bird is traded and transported. Eventually the bird will come to a final destination where it may be used as a trophy piece for exhibit, or even worse, as a breeder. When it doesn't accommodate the breeding facility it is disguarded like yesterday's trash, thrown into the already flooding sea of unwanted, misunderstood avian exotics.
So what do we do BEFORE next time? If we are to protect these beautiful species, these wonderfully unique flighted creatures, we need the avian community to come together NOW, FINALLY and act on the behalf of the supreme welfare to not only protect, but to regain the security they once enjoyed as a wild creature in their natural habitat.
For many a "domesticated" bird (I say that loosely because avian exotics are not considered domesticated pets), it's far too late for them to be returned to the wild. They simply don't have the skills to survive in such a raw world as the animal kingdom in its natural environment. They are left in limbo depending on humans for the remainder of their life, their VERY LONG life (as much as 70 years or more). They will have to be left in the The Last Testament and Will of their caregiver to be passed on to be placed in the mercy of someone else's care . This creates havoc in a bird's life, as they are slow, very slow to adjust to any change at all. Let alone the aftermath of Katrina and the massive amount of trauma left in a bird's Pysche from such disaster and displacement.
But what about the birds who still live in the wild? How do we keep them there, where they belong? How do we stop the covert poaching, hoarding, breeding, trading that stems from their own land?
It's time to really sit back and take a long hard look at what is and just what isn't being done in the avian community at large to protect the species without breeding them as though they are mere chattel. It's time to require breeders to log their stock's bloodlines and demand that they keep track of each and every bird that leaves their facility. It's time to boycott buying birds at high prices and it's time to begin adopting from the overflowing avian sanctuaries, real sanctuaries, not breeders disguised as sanctuaries. Not one more bird should be hatched in the aviary of anyone's backyard or facility until ALL of the sanctuary birds have permanent, safe homes with reliable families.
It's time to stop the opportunists. Now.
No one person or organization has the absolute answer. But if all of us in the avian community could just once and for all tear down our walls, bridge our gaps and work together, peacefully, then all of us could finally regain our credibility and take a tall and proud stand and claim truthfully "It's about the birds". Period.