I was asked to take Purdey, the Nanday Conure, from her current safehouse to a new foster home. The guy who had applied to foster her had been made ACO just before all the Birdline doodoo blew up a few months ago, but it had been agreed over the phone by Gary, the Bandit-in-Chief, and no-one had ever done a homecheck on him.
One aspect of Birdline practice that I have never approved of is the 'bird shuttle', in which people meet up in a variety of places - usually motorway services - hand birds over and then drive them on to the next link in the delivery chain. I always make sure that I take a bird all the way, partly because it's marginally less stressful for the bird, but also because I need to satisfy myself that the foster home in question is a good one and to satisfy myself that the bird will receive the care it deserves. The person in question had, over the months, already acquired a number of Birdline birds through the 'bird shuttle' practice.
So I made a point of driving all the way and checking this guy out. I'm glad I did!
I was not impressed.
He had a huge aviary in his back garden. As such, no complaints. He had 100+ budgies and a similar number of cockatiels.
I went inside the aviary. As I walked in through the door, he had a woodworking workshop just inside the door with a large circular saw and a variety of power tools. The air was thick with sawdust. I had trouble breathing for the short time I was in there. I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the birds that were housed inside on a permanent basis.
There was a large number of breeding boxes filled with budgies along one wall. Against the other were stacks of cages filled with a variety of birds. In the strictest sense of the law, as laid down by the Animal Welfare Act, these cages were mostly 'adequate'. But they were all the very cheapest available and were all galvanised.
The food (seed only) was generally of a bad quality - very high in sunflower seed and full of peanuts in shell. There was no trace of any fruit or vegetables ever having troubled the food bowls. There were no toys present to keep the birds entertained and nothing for the birds to chew to keep their beaks in trim - especially important for a bird such as Purdey, who has scissorbeak and who absolutely MUST have lots to chew on to avoid having to trim the deformities of her beak too often.
None of the birds housed inside the aviary ever got outside. They were left in their cages 24/7. They never got to see natural sunlight.
But as much as it was about the physical circumstances of Purdey's welfare, it was also about assessing the man himself. When I arrived, I did nothing. I didn't lift a finger to help. I wanted to watch him and see how he handled the situation and the bird.
First off, he took Purdey straight into the aviary - absolutely no concept of quarantine! I brought her cage in from the car and set it up. This had already been the subject of debate as he had wanted to put Purdey straight in with another Nanday without any attempt at finding out whether they would be compatible - and even though the cage into which she was to be put with this stranger was, in the eyes of the law, 'adequate', I deemed it too small to be permanent accommodation for a single Nanday, let alone two, one of which may desperately have been trying to get away from the other.
Rather than transferring her from the transporter I had brought her in to her cage, he just opened the transporter and left her fly out. Following her natural instinct, she flew and settled on the highest point available - the top of a cage occupied by a couple of poi's. They, naturally, clambered to the top of their cage and started trying to bite Purdey's feet. He did not react at all. After a couple of close calls, I intervened and got her off the top of the cage to avoid serious injury.
I asked him how he intended to get Purdey into her cage. "I have a net." was his reply. So he was quite prepared to traumatise this poor bird further...
In the meanwhilst, his wife had come in to deliver a cryptic phone message: "Message from [I think it was 'Richard'], that bird has arrived for you." His eyes darted from side to side furtively, as though he hadn't wanted me to hear that message. Personally, had I learned that a bird I had been expecting and looking forward to meeting was about to arrive, especially while in the company of another parrot enthusiast, I would have started talking about it, but he completely blanked the issue and uncomfortably changed the subject.
So I watched this guy chase poor little Purdey around with a net until she was too tired to get away any more. I asked him to put Purdey back into my transporter, which he did, before telling him that I was not happy with the situation and that I intended taking Purdey back with me. Had I had another transporter with me, I would also have taken Goblin with me, a sweet little Birdline Patagonian.
Needless to say, I was not terribly popular, so I beat a hasty retreat. I dropped poor little Purdey off back at the safehouse from which I had collected her earlier that afternoon. I hope Purdey understands and can forgive me for insisting that she go back into quarantine again at her safehouse. I can only ease my sense of guilt by pointing out to myself that it will have saved a lot of birds from an unhappy situation. In a way, I treated her very badly - I should not have allowed her to be put through all that, but it was for the greater good.
I spent most of yesterday dealing with the repercussions. Many, many phone calls. For some reason, my opinion carries a lot of weight in Birdline.
It is to their credit that they backed me up 100%, trusting my judgement.
Pi$$ me right off.
I'm surprised you didn't DECK the guy and take ALL his birds away from him (I'm sure you would have if you could have!)
Crazy people! 
!
