Was I too picky?

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oldmolly - 20 Jan 2004 11:20 GMT

Had a phone call last evening. I had advertised my friends blue and gold
macaw babies and I take the calls as he keeps rather a lot of valuable birds
and is afraid of bird thefts. So, the call goes like this. caller:" 'ave you
got any of them macoys?"
me:"Pardon"?
caller: 'ave you got any of them macoys wot you got advertised?"
Me: Do you mean the blue and gold *macaws* ? Spelled m.a.c.a.w.."
(just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same thing here)
Caller:"yeah, them.'ave you got any?"
Me:" yes there are a couple left. Have you had birds before?"
caller:" no, well only a budgie but the kids let it out and it flew away".
me: "Thats a shame"
Caller:" well the bloody thing only made a noise all the time anyway.Them
macoys are good wiv kids ain't they?"

(by this time I had halfway decided I didn't want one of my friends birds to
go here. In the background kids could be heard screaming and shouting)

me:" oh no, have you seen the size of that beak? they can crack brazil nuts
you know. They could give a painful bite to a child"
caller:"(laughs) well it would teach them not to poke the bugger wouldn't
it?"

It turns out during the conversation that not only have they not got the
first clue about birds, but they have several small children who seem to be
uncontrollable, and who allowed the last bird to fly away, but they live
above a pub too.(smoke, noise etc)
I told them I would call my friend and phone them back. Needless to say I
won't. It is getting harder and harder to find really good responsible homes
for pets over here.
Before anyone flames me for being judgemental and they might be really
lovely people to home a bird to. My friend and I feel we need to accept some
responsibility and try to home our birds to people we feel comfortable with.
If we didn't, we would simply sell them to a bird dealer and be done with
it, which is what lots of breeders do I know. But we are more concerned with
finding the right homes, than making money.

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mdfloyd - 20 Jan 2004 14:58 GMT

Molly: You are absolutely doing the correct thing! Don't even think
twice about being too picky. You and your friend ARE responsible for
those babies' well-being and I'm pleased that you're being careful.
We need more breeders like you and your friends!!!!!

Keep up the good work. ;-)
________________________
www.scritches.com
everything but the bird
________________________

> Had a phone call last evening. I had advertised my friends blue and gold
> macaw babies and I take the calls as he keeps rather a lot of valuable birds
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> it, which is what lots of breeders do I know. But we are more concerned with
> finding the right homes, than making money.

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Alison - 20 Jan 2004 15:10 GMT

No , you're not too picky , I wouldn't let people like these any where
near a bird or any pet for that matter. They're not the real "macoy"
<G>
Alison

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Jennifer - 20 Jan 2004 16:32 GMT

Kudos to you for keeping such a delicate and perfect animal out of that kind
of a situation. While I know it will probably happen, I hope that when they
go elsewhere others also turn them away.

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Alex Clayton - 20 Jan 2004 18:48 GMT

"Before anyone flames me for being judgemental " ???
You can't be serious here?
I certainly do not agree with everything you say here, but if you had let
that moron have a bird I would be flaming you for selling a bird to someone
like that. The jerk will more than likely end up with a bird, and we all
know what the outcome will be. If the bird is lucky it will end up in a
rescue or new home before permanent damage is done.
I would literally put a bird down before I would let it go to a home like
you just described.

Signature

"A committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brain"
[Lazarus Long]

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pianoharp - 20 Jan 2004 19:09 GMT

> Had a phone call last evening. I had advertised my friends blue and gold
> macaw babies and I take the calls as he keeps rather a lot of valuable

birds

> and is afraid of bird thefts. So, the call goes like this. caller:" 'ave

you

> got any of them macoys?"
> me:"Pardon"?
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> (by this time I had halfway decided I didn't want one of my friends birds

> go here. In the background kids could be heard screaming and shouting)
>
> me:" oh no, have you seen the size of that beak? they can crack brazil

nuts

> you know. They could give a painful bite to a child"
> caller:"(laughs) well it would teach them not to poke the bugger wouldn't
> it?"
>
> It turns out during the conversation that not only have they not got the
> first clue about birds, but they have several small children who seem to

> uncontrollable, and who allowed the last bird to fly away, but they live
> above a pub too.(smoke, noise etc)
> I told them I would call my friend and phone them back. Needless to say I
> won't. It is getting harder and harder to find really good responsible

homes

> for pets over here.
> Before anyone flames me for being judgemental and they might be really
> lovely people to home a bird to. My friend and I feel we need to accept

some

> responsibility and try to home our birds to people we feel comfortable

with.

> If we didn't, we would simply sell them to a bird dealer and be done with
> it, which is what lots of breeders do I know. But we are more concerned

with

> finding the right homes, than making money.

Signature

"A committee is a life form with six or more legs and no brain"
[Lazarus Long]

Besides, it's not judgmentalness. You've a heart, you know what you want
your bird to get in a home. We all make choices, you made yours. In my
mind, yours was a positive one.
Sounded like pretty bad vibes to me.

- pianoharp

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oldmolly - 20 Jan 2004 21:09 GMT

> > Had a phone call last evening. I had advertised my friends blue and gold
> > macaw babies and I take the calls as he keeps rather a lot of valuable
[quoted text clipped - 59 lines]
> mind, yours was a positive one.
> Sounded like pretty bad vibes to me.

Phew thanks folks. Sometimes I wonder if I am too picky homing things.
Seems like my instincts were right in this case though.Sadly, they will
simply go to the nearest bird dealer, pay over the odds, but pay with a
credit card so it doesn't seem like spending money at all. The dealer won't
refuse a sale of course and I doubt they will bother buying a book or two
cos after all, how difficult is it to put some seed in a pot every other
day? :o(

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Peter Wastholm - 21 Jan 2004 09:50 GMT

> Had a phone call last evening. I had advertised my friends blue and gold
> macaw babies and I take the calls as he keeps rather a lot of valuable
> birds and is afraid of bird thefts. So, the call goes like this. caller:"
> 'ave you got any of them macoys?"

[snip]

> It turns out during the conversation that not only have they not got the
> first clue about birds, but they have several small children who seem to
> be uncontrollable, and who allowed the last bird to fly away, but they
> live above a pub too.(smoke, noise etc)

Funny story. Seems to me you'd have to be un-picky more or less to the point
of being desperate to sell these people a bird. Some people aren't meant to
have birds. Or children...

/Peter

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Scylla - 28 Jan 2004 21:56 GMT

It seems to me that any breeder of birds is entertaining the possibility of his or her bird ending up in an inadequate home. Why breed them? It just feeds the notion that birds are casual pets, because they are so plentiful. If finding good homes for the macaws is an issue, the solution is to stop breeding macaws.

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Pet Forum / Birds / Birds / January 2004

Was I too picky?