Bird cruelty a hidden act

Virginia saw not just one, but two major news stories last year involving cruelty or neglect of dogs.

But birds?

Birds suffer from neglect and cruelty as well — proportionally perhaps even more often than do dogs.

Almost everyone remembers Michael Vick dogfighting trial last year. Then there came the raid on the puppy mill near Hillsville, where nearly 1,000 dogs and puppies were seized.

Less well known to most of us is the plight of neglected birds.

Matt Smith is not most of us. He runs the Central Virginia Parrot Sanc-tuary in Louisa County, where he cares for 120 exotic birds that have been abandoned, surrendered or confiscated.

“People see … birds [in pet stores] and they’re cute and they’re pretty and some can talk and so they buy them,” Mr. Smith said (“Louisan rescues exotic species,” The Daily Progress, May 26). “But these birds aren’t like dogs or cats. They’re still very much wild animals.”

Some birds that end up for sale to unprepared pet owners have actually been captured from the wild. Others are the products of breeding mills that may not have cared for the birds well or socialized them properly.

In nature, these birds are often social, living in flocks. Being removed from that environment and made to live in a solitary situation can be difficult for them. Owners have the responsibility of providing companionship and intellectual stimulation to help counteract, to the degree possible, the deprivation of their new environment.

But it can be tough for owners to keep up this routine. Parrots, for instance, can live for 40-100 years, depending on the subspecies. Now, that’s a long-term commitment.

And because many birds mate for life, they may imprint on their owner as a substitute companion, then becoming jealous of family members or other pets. 

Denied the right care and social support, birds can grow listless, depressed, self-abusive or aggressive. That just makes it all the harder for owners to love and care for them.

Of course, all this applies to those owners who are unprepared, by temperament or the availability of time, to properly tend to their birds. Many other owners are attentive, knowledgeable and responsible, and find their birds to be both loving and lovable.

Most of us are unaware of the sad conditions in which some birds may live — conditions that eventually require the services of places such as the Central Virginia Parrot Sanctuary.

“There are laws that limit the number of dogs but [none] that restrict how many birds you can have and no regulations on breeding,” Mr. Smith said.

That must change. Keeping birds in locked cages for decades with no contact other than to turn out more birds is inhumane in the extreme.

Mr. Smith has 31 macaws that were seized from a breeder in Orange County who was charged with cruelty and neglect for keeping them permanently locked up and under tarps. The birds are unadoptable.

It’s not a story that will grab the public’s imagination like the Vick case. But maybe it will get legislators’ attention and lead to better laws of protection.