Bird Rescue, Sheltering & Placement

Our Position:

The AWC supports bird rescue, shelter, placement, and sanctuary organizations that;

• Maintain professional standards of operation, provide accountability, and abide by the ethical principles of animal care accrediting organizations and national humane organizations.

• Are committed to continuing education in the field to achieve best practice standards of avian care and organizational management. 

• Promote respectful collaboration and the sharing of expertise and resources with colleagues to help birds in need.

• Carry out their responsibility to generate awareness to the plight of captive birds, develop appropriate educational materials and public outreach programs, and advocate for social, legislative, and policy changes aimed at improving the lives of birds in captivity.

The AWC opposes the exploitation of birds in the care of avian rescue, placement, and sanctuary facilities.  We do not support groups that breed, sell, or use birds or other animals for commercial, entertainment, or exhibition purposes. 

About Bird Rescue, Placement & Sanctuary Organizations

Today, a growing number of bird rescue, adoption, and sanctuary organizations are facing the challenge of caring for displaced parrots.  Also seeing a rise in the number of unwanted, abused, and abandoned exotic birds entering their facilities, many traditional shelter and animal control organizations are gaining the knowledge and skills to provide suitable care and placement for them.

While all of these organizations can use volunteers and donations to help birds in their care, it is important to distinguish reputable animal shelters and avian rescue, placement, and sanctuary organizations from unethical groups that further contribute to the exploitation and suffering of the animals they rescue.

Many claim to be rescue or sanctuary facilities but in reality are animal collectors or hobby breeders who simply formed a non-profit organization and began referring to themselves as a refuge for animals.  Others operate roadside zoos and menageries that warehouse animals in grossly substandard conditions, breed the animals they rescue, or acquire unwanted animals to use for entertainment or commercial purposes. These pseudo sanctuaries prey on people’s desire to help abused, abandoned, or neglected animals, when in fact, they exploit the animals in their care for their personal gain at the public’s-and the animals’-expense. 

Before donating, do some research to ensure that your support is going to genuine animal shelter, placement, and sanctuary organizations.

Evaluating Excellence in Animal Sanctuary Facilities

In addition to maintaining rigorous standards of sanctuary management and animal care, the following are some basic core values and expectations to achieving excellence in ethical standards:

• No breeding of animals occurs in the facility. Nor does the organization support captive breeding programs for any commercial purpose. (Exceptions may be made on rare occasions when an animal's species is on the verge of extinction and where a credible, scientifically based breeding and reintroduction program is in place.)  

• Animals will not be used for commercial purposes such as entertainment, or purely for exhibition.

• No activities are conducted that are in conflict with the animals’ inherent natural behavior and dignity.

• The organization provides professional and humane care through all phases of an animal’s life and assumes lifetime responsibility for animals placed in its care. This may include rehabilitation and and/or transfer to another facility that is better suited to their needs and where similar or higher standards of care and prohibitions on breeding and commercial activity are complied with.

• Public access to the animals only occurs under conditions of nonintrusiveness and respect for their privacy. 

• The organization recognizes that the welfare of animals is always primary and that respectful collaboration with others on behalf of the animals’ welfare is obligatory.

• Animal care facilities maintain all required licenses and permits in good standing as well as their federal 501 c 3 not-for-profit status.

• The organization conducts fundraising with honesty and integrity and avoids sensationalistic and manipulative funding appeals.

• The organization has a strong educational and advocacy component.

If the organizations places animals, it should have firm policies that:

• Prohibit animals from being placed into breeding situations or for commercial purposes.

• Provide for a thorough screening process for potential placement partners, educational outreach, and a follow-up to ensure that animals placed are thriving in their new environment.

• Provide them with legally binding contracts to ensure that animals can be recovered if they are not receiving proper care or if the present guardian is no longer willing or able to care for the animal. 

The Golden Rule-Birds First

Avian care facilities must provide birds with a stress free environment, appropriate space, enrichment, diet, and medical care as well as the ability to socialize with other birds, exercise, and free fly in a safe, supervised area.  Most importantly, respect for each bird’s individual needs, characteristics, and physical and behavioral limitations must come before the desires and expectations of their human caretakers.

Effective Education & Advocacy

Providing refuge and the best care possible for animals in need is one part of the job of professional 501c3 animal rescue and sanctuary organizations.  Equally as important is that they have a strong advocacy component to influence social and legislative policy aimed at improving the lives of animals and to inspire individuals to become advocates for the cause.

Avian rescue, placement, and sanctuary organizations have a duty to promote awareness and active concern for the plight of parrots in captivity and in the wild through responsible education and public outreach. To be effective, educational messaging must be presented in a manner that conveys facts, offers solutions, encourages a better understanding of the true nature of birds, and speaks to the important concerns surrounding their welfare.

To act in the best interests of the birds in their care, reputable organizations:

• Do not profit from or support the wild and exotic animal trade.

• Do not use the birds in their care to satisfy human expectation or amusement; nor do they put their emotional needs, financial gain, or self-promotion before the needs of the animals.

• Abide by the core values of professional animal care accrediting organizations.

• Ensure that birds they place do not further contribute to overpopulation and are not used in exploitive ways.

• Focus on the big picture and are mindful of the impact their actions may have on the greater goals of the avian welfare community.

Public Outreach: It’s Not Entertainment 

It is imperative that captive birds be provided with habitat enrichment to help them display their full range of natural behaviors and enjoy a more enriched life in captivity.  Keeping birds contented, happy, and entertained in their environment is something we all strive for.  But there is a difference between birds entertaining themselves in their own surroundings and humans exploiting those behaviors by having birds perform or entertain for profit or self-aggrandizement. 

While some bird behaviors may be viewed as entertaining to humans, rescue organizations have a moral obligation to refrain from using birds as “entertainment” in public outreach efforts or as a means to attract attention and funding.  A frivolous approach is neither a responsible nor productive means of educating the public, since it falls short of providing a complete picture of the complex issues involved in parrot welfare.

Also, be wary of groups that hire out birds for entertainment, commercial, or for purely exhibition purposes or that use them to perform in traveling shows or other commercial venues.  These are practices commonly employed by commercial entities that profit from animals—and are not consistent with the ethical standards of non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary organizations incorporated to provide refuge and protection for animals in their care. 

To learn more about distinguishing between legitimate rescue organizations and “pseudo sanctuaries,” read these articles:

Expectations of Sanctuaries by the Association of Sanctuaries 

Code of Ethics by the Association of Sanctuaries 

Sanctuary or Scamtuary?  By Nicole Paquette, Esq.

Helping Animals or Hoarding

Unfortunately, animal hoarders often masquerade as ‘rescuers,’ and describe their homes as “shelters” or “refuges.” But hoarding is not about legitimate animal sheltering or rescue; it is a serious mental illness that jeopardizes the health and welfare of the animals and the people involved.

The medical profession now recognizes animal hoarding as a psychiatric disease that’s closely related to obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC) defines an animal hoarder as a person who has:

• Accumulated a large number of animals, overwhelming that person’s ability to provide even minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation, and veterinary care.

• Failed to acknowledge the deteriorating condition of the animals (including disease, starvation, and even death) and household environment (severe overcrowding, very unsanitary conditions).

• Failed to recognize the negative effect of the condition on his or her own heath and well-being, and on that of other household members.

Most states do not have clear laws and penalties to control animal hoarding.  To help to protect animals in your community, it is important that you learn the facts, understand the local ordinances and laws governing animal care in your community, and report abuse  and other violations to humane enforcement authorities. 

To learn more about the efforts of groups helping birds in need, and what you should know about animal rescue and sanctuary organizations, read the articles below.  

Recommended Articles: 

Temporary Care, Shelter & Placement

New: HSUS Guidelines for Animal Shelter Policies
By the Humane Society of the United States  

AWC’s Shelter Outreach Program
Assisting Shelter and Animal Control Organizations in Serving the Needs of Captive Exotic Birds

New Shelter Book: It’s for the Birds
By Carrie Allen, Animal Sheltering Magazine, Mar/Apr 07 Issue

Flocking Together: Care for Exotic Birds in the Shelter
By Carrie Allen, Animal Sheltering, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

Beaky, Come Home!
Animal Sheltering, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

Eileen McCarthy: Making the World a Better Place for Birds
By Carla Thornton

Helping Birds, Rabbits & Ferrets
A Best Friends Animal Society Forum, Dec l, 2003

For the Birds: Do you have what it takes to be an avian rescuer?
By Paula Fitzsimmons, Animal Watch, ASPCA

Permanent Sanctuary

Sanctuary or Scamtuary?
By Nicole Paquette, Satya Magazine

Animal Sanctuaries and Animal Activism
By Craig Brestrup, Ph.D, Satya Magazine, Nov. 04

Placing Your Bird with an Avian Rescue Organization
By Becky Sumber, Avian Protection Society & Denise Kelly, The Avian Welfare Coalition

Non-Profit Organizational Development
By Craig Brestrup, Ph.D, The Association of Sanctuaries (TAOS)

Zoos Aren’t Sanctuaries
By Craig Brestrup, Ph.D, Animal Issues, Volume 35 Number 4, Winter 2004

Animal Hoarding

Tufts University -The Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium

Behind Closed Doors: The Horrors of Animal Hoarding
by the Humane Society of the United States

Animal Hoarding: A public health problem veterinarians can take a lead role in solving,
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, October 15, 2002

Understanding Hoarding Disorder
Useful Links Concerning Animal Hoarding

Loving Animals to Death
by Chris Colin, March 8, 2002, Salon.Com/People

Knowing When to Say When
By Tracey Vogel, Staff Writer, VetCentric, October 7, 2002

Legacy of Suffering:  Hoarding
Animal Advocacy.Net

Animal Hoarding by the ASPCA

Animal Concerns Community - Animal Hoarding
by Animal Concerns.org.

Resources:

To learn more about the principles and practices of legitimate sanctuary organizations, or if you have questions or concerns regarding an animal care facility in your community, contact these organizations. 

The Association of Sanctuaries (TAOS)

The American Sanctuary Association

The Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition (CWAPC)

The World Society for the Protection of Animals

Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS)

To research a nonprofit organization’s latest International Revenue Service Tax Return, visit Guidestar: The National Database of Non-profit Organizations at www.guidestar.org

Learn more about how you can volunteer or donate your time to parrot welfare or start your own captive bird rescue, placement, or sanctuary organization. Click here.

Overview
Parrots as Pets
Bird Rescue, Sheltering & Placement
Aviculture, Bird Mills & Retail Marketing
Sale of Unweaned Babies
Naturalized Parrots
Conservation
Bird Displacement

All material Copyright © 2002–2008 Avian Welfare Coalition, unless otherwise noted. Contact us to request reprint permission.