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Hello Everyone!
Your club President is currently out of
town visiting the Oasis Sanctuary
in Arizona. If you are un-familiar
with this sanctuary, visit www.theoasis.
org. Leanna is helping them
with making bird toys and trees and
doing a volunteer week there to
help out where she can. They are
seeking volunteers for week stints,
so if you have some vacation time
and don’t know where to go… consider
a week at the Oasis! It’s hard
work, but it’s wonderful work.
What Sybil and her staff does for
the unwanted and estate birds left
in their care is commendable. On
one of my trips down, after having
researched other “sanctuaries” that
had hundreds of birds, I was concerned
about the ability to evacuate
that many birds, especially
since the tragic incident back east
where a “sanctuary” was unable to
evacuate during a hurricane and
lost many birds as a result.
I was most pleased to see the appropriate
travel cages and travel
trailers (with its own air source)
parked and ready to go and the
staff to get them gathered in a
timely manner. It was amazing to
see a barn with that many cages
stacked and ready to go, but it is
such a necessary thing! The Oasis
Sanctuary is a 501c sanctioned
sanctuary and one of the first bird
sanctuaries to have dual accreditation
from the American Sanctuary
Association (ASA) and The Association
of Sanctuaries (TAOS). It
was refreshing to see a sanctuary
with a plan and a vision. They are
moving to huge enclosures, getting
away from individual cages.
They are encouraging parrots to
flock together again, amongst trees
and yet still be protected. It’s
heartbreaking to hear how many
birds she has to turn away or are
on waiting lists, but it’s the right
thing to do. They know their limit. If
a sanctuary is quick to take your
bird, without having to provide current
vet test results and “promises”
to take care of them, please consider
this a red flag.
Consider sanctuaries for what they
have in place, not what is in their
hearts. Ask the questions that are
necessary…. Do they have a board
of directors? Do they own the land
they are on? Do they have a vet?
Are they staffed with full time employees?
Do they have an evacuation
plan? These are some of the
questions I suggest.
Leanna Rein and I firmly believed
that in order to consider a lifetime
care facility for your bird, or a sanctuary
you con honestly recommend
or refer people to, we’d have to
physically go and see the facility
and that’s what we did.
We encourage you to do the same
if you are setting up trusts for your
birds or making your estate planning.
Our care for our little feathered
friends must continue even
after we are gone since a lot of the
bigger birds are starting to live 70-
80 years in captivity. Plan ahead.
Do your homework. And in the
meantime, have a great month and
be kind to your birds and yourself
and enjoy each other!
Lin Westgard, Vice-President The Alaska Bird Club
Webmaster’s Note: This article contains opinions of the author and may not reflect the views of The Alaska Bird Club in general.
It is our intent to provide information and education whenever and wherever possible so that the reader can make informed decisions.
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