Over eight days in February 2016, parrot rescuers found five (wild, endangered and near threatened) birds injured and dead in San Diego -- similar attacks can be traced back to 2014.
Parrots all of the world are in decline. Apart from being threatened by capture for domestic and international trade, habitat loss and fragmentation, wild parrots in San Diego also have to worry about BB guns and pellet guns. Amanda Plante from SoCal Parrot describes to CBS 8 the condition that most of the birds were found in: "Most of them are rendered flightless or near lifeless and they die a slow painful death."
Rescuers from SoCal Parrots are demanding justice. Even though the FBI now recognizes animal cruelty as a trackable felony, the parrot rescue nonprofit is struggling "to get a better response from law enforcement." Here are a few of the challenges that the organization has encountered working with local authorities:
-- Calling various numbers
-- Leaving many messages with no or delayed callbacks
-- Talking to different people in different departments
-- Generic messages
-- Being put on hold for extended periods of time
-- Delay in opening a case
-- (When the case was finally opened) delay in updating the case with a possible suspect lead
Sign and share this petition demanding justice for the birds and urging San Diego officials to take these parrot cruelty cases seriously.
Photo Credit: Brian Gratwicke
