Rousted from sanctuary, parrots need a new roost
There is no such thing, alas, as squawkers’ rights.
There are 95 birds facing “demoviction” come Feb. 28 and the Greyhaven Exotic Bird Sanctuary is desperate for a new home where they can roost until they’ve been adopted.
“We’re trying to get the word out there,” Greyhaven’s Jan Robson said. “Ideally, we’d need about 3,000 square feet on the main floor in a building that’s zoned for this type of thing.”
For the past 20 months the birds, all parrots, have lived in a nondescript building on East 8th Avenue in Vancouver.
The warehouse had been unoccupied as its owner sought and then waited for approval to develop the property. Greyhaven’s lease came up in September and it was extended a couple of times, but Robson said she has to assume that time’s up when the latest deadline arrives at the end of February.
The current building is in a zone that allows veterinarian practices.
“Having this many birds probably stretches the definition of veterinary use,” Robson said.
A new home must also be either soundproof or located in a remote area. Scores of parrots are loud. How many decibels loud? “Many jet engines loud, especially at bedtime,” Robson said. “They are not your usual, annoying, plays-the-music-too-loud neighbour.”
Besides having a tenant looking after what would otherwise be a vacant building, a prospective landlord could also benefit from tax deductions. The current owner, for example, charges market rent then gives some of it back to Greyhaven and claims the charitable donation.
“So it’s absolutely a win-win situation for any landlord who has a building just sitting there.”
And, ideally, a new building would be in Vancouver or Burnaby because that’s where almost all the volunteers who care for the birds live.
The 95 parrots are those that remain of 586 that were rescued in the spring of 2016 from the World Parrot Refuge in Coombs on Vancouver Island.
They were in various stages of distress after being found in filthy rat-infested cages, many of them sick with liver and heart ailments and suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, pretty much all of them malnourished, and many of them injured from fights or self-abuse.
That so many have found adoptive homes has been a huge accomplishment and speaks to the compassion of people in the Lower Mainland, Robson said.
“It’s massive. A lot of these birds were facing big issues.”
Parrots are famously smart. Some, after watching Greyhaven volunteers open their doors every day to feed them or slide out the bottom pan to clean it have figured out ways to break out of their cages, even using small pieces of wood as tools.
Greyhaven needs people to adopt, it needs donations and it needs volunteers. Surgeries, overhead and staff at the temporary quarters at Main and 8th cost $40,000 to $50,000 a month, Robson said.
But parrots live 50-plus years and adopting one is a long-term commitment, she warned. “When you adopt a parrot, you take on considerable responsibility.”
Anyone interested in adoption can get information at greyhaven.bc.ca or by calling 604-878-7212.