Hamilton Aviary’s birds don’t have to fly the coop yet
City committee gives volunteer group until summer to find a new home
The city is giving Hamilton Aviary volunteers until next summer to find a new home for the popular bird sanctuary.
A report in October recommended closing the Westdale facility and “rehoming” 65 birds because the dilapidated, city-leased building has sparked orders from the provincial Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Bird-loving volunteers appealed for time to put together a proposal for a new facility that would keep the feathered friends together.
Councillors at a public works committee Monday agreed to allow the birds to stay at the Oak Knoll Drive facility until the end of June 2018 — and pay up to $40,000 for short-term repairs — while volunteers work to find a new home for the aviary.
If the proposed new “forever home” for the birds looks like it will fly next year, the city will sell all 65 parrots and parakeets to the newly reconstituted Friends of the Aviary for $1.
Ward Coun. Aidan Johnson said he appreciated the “passion” of aviary supporters but noted the tough balancing act the city faces in trying to “fulfil its (legal) obligations as zookeeper.”
The provincial SPCA has said the city will face charges if it doesn’t deal with orders related to mice infestation and bad lighting at the aviary by the end of this month.
Volunteer Sherry Houston asked councillors to consider the aviary as a “unique asset to the city” rather than an unwanted responsibility and cost to taxpayers.
She and fellow volunteer Caitlin Smyth also emphasized the value of the aviary as a sanctuary, rather than a zoo, for unwanted birds.
There is a long list of reasons why exotic birds like grey parrots and macaws lose their homes and end up in the Westdale sanctuary, said Smyth, including owner death and family conflict.
“My bird is always screaming … I can’t take care of it … My bird hates my spouse … I can’t take care of it,” she said. “We hear these things all of the time.”
The city will have to put up about $40,000 to deal with the SPCA orders and do “general cleanup” in the failing aviary building just to make it safe until next summer, according to Le’Ann Seely, the city’s manager of forestry and horticulture.
The city’s legal team also wants a new agreement signed with the Friends to outline obligations toward the building and birds.
Smyth said the group has already reached out to owners of “suitable empty buildings and greenhouses” in the hopes of quickly securing a new bird-friendly home.
Long term, she said the group hopes to raise enough cash over three to five years for a purposebuilt aviary.