The Gabriel Foundation makes a last chance rescue

By Cori Lovinger Knol:
Last week, we took in nine new birds from four different relinquishers, culminating in one of the worst cases of animal neglect and cruelty we have encountered.

This is the story of the rescue of Coco, Kiwi and Bailey:

I have been working at TGF for five months. I love birds - especially my Greenwing Macaw, Spikey - he's what brought me to TGF. However my background and expertise led me to the business side of parrot welfare. My job is to raise awareness and money, I never actually "rescued" any birds. Until today.

When my coworker, Rick, asked me to come with him to pick up some birds being relinquished - I said yes. I had no idea this would turn out to be one of the worst days of my life.



Coco3 We were picking up three parrots from a woman who (we were told) lost her husband recently. They were his birds and she wasn't able to take care of them. This is common, one person has bonded with the bird(s), and in their absence the partner can't handle them.

We pulled onto a nice street in a nice neighborhood. I didn't notice anything unusual until we got out of the van. The front yard was overgrown and filled with junk, including a sink and a bathtub. The lady who had come out to meet us looked neat and clean - complete with a pedicure. She apologized for the state of her house. She said her husband, who had died two years ago, had started projects but had never finished them.

I had heard about this scenario on TV. Yet I learned that day you can't begin to understand a hoarder until you are actually standing inside their house.

Beside huge piles of everything, everywhere, were old appliances, junk and huge cobwebs over our heads. Then, we turned a corner and entered another room.

Perched on top of a rusted old cage was Coco, a Greenwing Macaw - like my Spikey but so very different. Her beak was very thick and very long. So long that it curled around up and into her throat - causing her to involuntarily, make a constant squeaking sound. What was left of her feathers were still encased in keratin sheaths. She wasn't able to preen any feathers because of her beak deformity. One of her back facing toes was facing forward, broken and twisted. She looked like the living dead.

We learned that Coco's living quarters were restricted to where she was - on top of the cage. Inside this rusty, bottomless cage was another bird. The bird's name was Kiwi, an Orange-winged Amazon, and appeared disheveled and scared. The floor was covered a foot high with their feces and other debris. Next to them in another old cage was a cockatiel. The woman couldn't remember this bird's name. She finally came up with Bailey. Reading the intake form later, his given name was Jefferson.


Coco1 We were told none of the birds had been handled since the death of her husband. All three birds nails resembled corkscrews. In all likelihood, Coco, Kiwi and Baily had not moved from their present spot once in the last 2 years.

Rick managed to towel each bird and get them into carriers relatively easily. We quickly loaded them into the van. Coco continued to squeak. I prayed we would make it to the vet in time, then reminded myself that Coco had been in this condition for a very long time. According to the paperwork, these birds resided in that house the majority of their lives. Coco was a 25 year old wild caught and she had lived there since she was six months old. My fear was our vet would tell us she was in too much pain and that we should put her out of her misery. I just wanted her to have a chance to live a happy life.

Upon seeing Coco, Dr. Kris Ahlgrim told us that this was one of the worst cases of animal neglect she had ever witnessed. Two inches of beak were removed and her squeak lessened immediately. Her nails were cut and then she was given a little shower. Dr. Ahlgrim decided to keep Coco at the hospital for observation and wait a few days before doing blood tests due to stress factor. Kiwi and Bailey were able to come back with us that day to be quarantined at our Acoma Street location. We will be providing lab testing and keeping a close eye on these three birds. For Coco, Kiwi, and Bailey - life can only improve here on out.