Take a bird under your wing

MSPCA takes in more than 100, from cockatiels to chickens

Anyone interested in a new feathered friend — or 10 — should call the MSPCA after two massive arrivals of animals left the organization with more than 100 birds waiting to be adopted.

First, cops and animalsafety officials cried fowl on a Webster farm, removing 87 chickens from the “deplorable” property where four already had died due to lack of food and water, according to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Twenty were deemed healthy enough to go to new homes right away, and the rest are recuperating from malnourishment and the “bumblefoot,” a bacterial infection of the toes.

“The MSPCA is seeking savvy adopters who will optimize the birds’ diets so they may live long and healthy lives,” the organization said in a statement.

Then in a separate case on Sept. 10, a Norfolk County woman who’d become “overwhelmed by the number of birds in her care” handed over to the MSPCA 49 birds, including cockatiels, conures, lovebirds and parakeets. All are in good health.

“The Norfolk County case is a situation in which the number of birds in the house became too much for the owner to care for, despite her best efforts,” said Mike Keiley, director of adoption centers and programs at MSPCA-Angell in Jamaica Plain. “But owing to the large number now in our care, we’re eager to start identifying adopters willing to take one or some home.”

The organization noted that it has delivered more than 600,000 pet meals to food banks and individuals since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Anyone interested in taking any of these birds under their wing can visit mspca.org/adoption.

PHOTOS COURTESY MSPCA-ANGELL ON THE WING: Lovebirds were among 40 pet birds brought in by the MSPCA from Norfolk County after their owner had become overwhelmed by the number of pets she had. Nearly 90 chickens, meanwhile, were taken into custody from ‘deplorable’ conditions on a Webster farm.