Humans are locked up when they have done a crime, so why are these beautiful creatures locked up in cages ?

Birds have wings and are supposed to fly. Captive birds cannot be returned to the wild, since they do not possess the learned skills necessary to survive;  nor can they be set free to fend for themselves.

On Sep 19 Nilesh had called me up for a PAWS meeting. When I reached there I found two very beautiful, but scared parrots. One was a male and the other a female: both were rescued from  astrologers from different  places. They were placed in a very tiny cage where they could barely move.  The female was a baby, she didn’t have full grown wings. She was very scared, and didn’t even make noise when I tried to touch her. She sat in a corner all alone. I felt sad for her, such a beautiful creature, who doesn’t even know that she can bite me in self-defense.  She was rescued from Thane Station by PAWS volunteers. The astrologers used her for picking up the Tarot cards to predict people’s future. How can this bird predict someone’s future, and how is this is considered entertainment?

The male was even a bit smarter. He was rescued at Nerul Station by our PAWS volunteers from astrologers. Nilesh asked me whether I could take them home for couple of weeks till he found a place where they could be set free. I was ready to take them home as I knew at least at my place they could move around freely.

I took them home in a PAWS Pet carrier, which was hundred times better than those small cages kept by astrologers. At first the male used to bite the female; however, I guess he empathized with her and didn’t bite her later on.

The very first thing I did after reaching home was to take them out of the cage. They were not ready to come out, so I placed some pears outside the cage so that I could lure them out. I was surprised that they were so used to being in a tiny cage that they didn’t feel like coming out and eating those fruits.

Birds have a good sense of human intentions, I guess that’s why the very next day they both started eating their fruits outside the cage from our hands. They didn’t even bite us or each other while having fruits.

I am not at my home from 8:30 in the morning till 7:30 in the evening , but my family, especially my mother, takes great care of them. We make them practice flying;  that’s the only we can at least let them know they have wings.

After three or four days, the male parrot flew from the top of the cage and landed on our floor. The female is trying to spread her wings. I think love is in the air; sometimes whenever the male doesn’t see the female, he starts whistling loudly, so I decided to call them Laila and Majnu.

Now Laila is very comfortable in my hands. She started whistling with Majnu; now both of them talk a lot . Whenever they want more fruits, they call us by whistling and making all sort of noises. Whenever they don’t see anyone in the room they call us.

Now everyday in the morning we get up by their whistles, I can’t believe these are the very same birds that I brought from Nilesh’s home. Now they like getting out of the cage, and even Majnu likes looking in the mirror.

I am waiting for the day when their wings grow back, and they can fly high in the air. They are born free, and they have a wonderful gift of flying in the sky.  Thanks to PAWS,  now I can predict their future of freedom.

What you can do

You can help  PAWS rescue work by donating:
 
DEMAND DRAFT & CHEQUES:
Donation Cheques / DD's can be drawn in the name of 'Plant & Animals Welfare Society' at the following address:

Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS)
A-18, Savitri Sadan,  
Dr. Mukharji Road, Near Nehru Ground,
Dombivli (East), 421201, Maharashtra, India
 
Thank you!

Photo: © Karin Van Ijzendoorn / Dreamstime.com / A rose-ringed parakeet