very sad classified ad

[felisdomesticus]

My precious Moluccan Cockatoo Lily needs a home. She is a very sweet girl, loves people. She says a few words..mimics a lot of sounds. Im having a baby and I need to find a loving and permanent home for her. Must have large parrot experience. WILL NOT SHIP!!!!!!THIS IS A LIVING THING NOT AN ITEM!

like babies and birds are mutually exclusive? unreal!

[Missysbirdies]

I don't know much about the bigger birds, but I know my Arcamedis was incredibly interested in my kids when each was born. He still sits and watches our 8 month old. :)

[Monica]

The larger birds are much like infants themselves... and can easily get jealous or easily disturb an infant... and in return can cause behavoiral problems when birdy gets too noisy for baby... Big birds and babies don't go well together UNLESS the owner knows how to handle/care for their bird without the bird becoming jealous or depressed...

[Eliza]

Im having a baby and I need to find a loving and permanent home for her.

I see this in ads for animals (birds especially, with dogs a close second) ALL.THE.TIME

It makes NO sense to me. Yes, a baby takes up time. LOTS of it. But what happens when your infant born in 2006 becomes a toddler... and you bring home a new sibling for him/her in 2008? Do you give away the older child?

Yes, I can understand rehoming a bird if s/he develops behavioral problems as a family expands. It would be cruel to keep a bird that, for example, plucks itself naked b/c it cannot handle the sharing its home w/ human children. Or one that stops eating... or whatever. I can understand rehoming an animal in the instance that an infant is terribly ill and requires intensive hospitalization, too.

To say that you don't have time for an animal that you bought BEFORE you had children is disgusting and cruel. And I'm not buying it, either. As an example: I have friends who are show jumpers who managed to care for their infant, 2 dogs and 8 horses in addition to the wife having a full time job off of the farm (AND she breastfed, BTW). Don't tell me that ONE child will take you away from your bird. Why not consider finding a "loving and permanent home" for your human infant?

-e-

[Monica]

Society in this day in age makes no sense... People are having a harder and harder time trying to balance things out. And as a whoel we are getting 'lazier'. It is quite sad.

[Alyce Johnson]

Well, as sad as this is, she is probably doing the right thing. If she thinks she cant handle it, she probably cant. (I feel the same way about people who chose to give up their children. If they want to give them up, then they certainly should - for the child's sake.) Perhaps the bird will ultimately be better off.

The thing I wonder about with folks like this is, are they really ready for a child? They took on a large, very social bird (or dog - also common) either (a) w/out making a commitment to the animal or (b) were "committed" to the extent of their own emotional capacity, but are now breaking their commitment to the creature *before* any actual problem arises, or (c) they jumped into a big situation with lots of responsibility w/out actually thinking ahead (to what they'd want to do if they had a child, for ex). If you "cave" this easy in the face of logistic challenges (or plan ahead this poorly) are you really ready to take on the responsibility of another human being? I wonder about the fate of the child (when she hits puberty, say, and is suddenly problematic herself)...Perhaps the bird is getting the better deal, to find a new home, where hopefully folks are more emotionally attached and committed to the other resident beings.

[Tiki]

I got Manu, my sweet little lutino Tiel because someone had a toddler and "didn't have time for the bird". He is a constant delight to me, I can't imagine why anyone would have wanted to get rid of him, but from my side, I am glad they did!

[mcbaes72]

A lot of good points were made here and I'd have to agree w/ the majority. I have (2) dogs, reef aquarium and now an MB Conure. Someday, when we have kids, I would NEVER give up any of my pets because of having a baby. I adopted both my dogs from rescure organizations and I'm glad I did. As for my MBC, I adopted him from a good place, too.

I hope somebody adopts this bird in the ad. At the very least, the owner wasn't willing to ship the bird. That shows some decency.

[felisdomesticus]

I could possibly understand re-homing the bird AFTER the baby was born if truly the bird was having problems with the decreased attention, the noise, whatever.

I cannot understand or forgive giving up on the bird before the baby even comes. I see the same crap day in and day out with cats--as if they are so much work and require loads of attention. *shakes head*