Dear Parrots magazine,
National Parrot Sanctuary & Zoo
I was shocked at the Greg Glendell letter published in the December issue of Parrots magazine. Since Mr Glendell’s visit, there have been many new large aviaries put up, including adequate sheltering from bad weather. Many aviaries have been refurbished and the birds are continually given stimulation. They are even growing their own trees to help with this. Their diet is very varied and there are proper quarantine facilities. Veterinary care is always available.
Improvements are continually being made but please give the Sanctuary a break, they can’t do everything at the drop of a hat and instantly. This all takes many man hours and money. Through Mr Glendell’s comments, both here in Parrots Magazine and in various other forums on the website, he could potentially caused damage to the Sanctuary. If people, through reading this propaganda, stop supporting the sanctuary, who will suffer – the birds!I have read the DEFRA report on the Sanctuary and it is nothing as Mr. Glendell portrays it, yes there were issues to be addressed, but they will be attended to, as required by DEFRA and the Zoo Licensing body - it is not optional. A lot of it was red tape, record keeping etc, which does not affect the birds daily welfare. Mr. Glendell appears to think that the DEFRA vet wasn’t qualified to do the inspection as the vet specialized in reptiles and fish. I believe this sort of vet is called an ‘exotics’ vet and parrots would come under that umbrella. I really do not think DEFRA would send an inappropriate vet to do an inspection. Mr Glendell does not have any qualifications in bird welfare, so what gives him and BirdsFirst the right to go around checking on different organizations, then expressing their personal opinions, to the extent where damage can be caused. Of course, it is good for people to report anything that is detrimental to bird or animal welfare. Do people really think that the many supporters the Sanctuary has, would in fact support it if it was as he says! I think not, as supporters have bird welfare at the forefront. Through his writings, there are now people worried to death because they have put their birds there, this is so unkind.
Mr Glendell says that the NPS relies on the donation of £50 on each relinquished bird for some of its income. Of course, it relies on donations. I would willingly pay them £50 to look after one of my birds for the rest of its life, if I couldn’t look after it anymore. Don’t forget many birds arrive at the sanctuary where a donation is not given and they would not turn away any bird if someone couldn’t donate. It costs a lot of money to run the sanctuary and it has to be got from somewhere, it must always be a struggle keeping funds coming in and Mr Glendell’s opinion could affect this and, once again, I will say the only ones to suffer, will be the birds themselves. Information he received from ex-volunteers is very questionable, as I personally know one that left under a very black cloud.
There is much more that I could say.
Mr P Cooke