Oh no! How sad.  We need better laws to protect these wonderful, intelligent and beautiful creatures.  I am so sorry Cookie could not stay with those that loved her.

Thank your for the kind support, I really appreciate it.  I only had Cookie for a short time, but I her progress so quickly.  It was a joy to prepare her meals for her every morning.  I was always trying to come up with new foods and combinations for her.  The most memorable moment I had was one evening she was in the mood for attention.  She allowed me to gently rub her feathers on her head (a.k.a a ‘scritch’).  She inclined her head in the classic pose, asking me to scritch.  I was so thrilled.  At the end of the 18 months, I am going to try and regain her.

Thanks again.

Andrew Neilson, if you read this, I have to say sorry for what happened. You and Cookie deserve each other and those people should not have gotten the chance to get Cookie (or any of the other birds) back.

I personally know Dr. Hillary Cook at the Orange Vet. Clinic, she as well as all the people involved in the care of these birds worked very hard to treat and inprove the health of the abused birds.It is a slap in the face to all those who gave there time as well as money to treat the birds. What is the system saying , you can abuse helpless animals, let them live in green sludge drinking water, rusted shut cages, illness,then to to top it off threw them in the back of truck with no air, drive for 10 to 14 hours to Florida. Why don’t the people that owned the birds have to travel in the back of that truck as well as have to live in the same type oe enviorment as the birds did. How can you say you love your birds,i only hope they didn’t have kids, how were they taken care of, but oh these were just birds who cares, ya, God will take care of issues like this in his own way. I hope they can’t pay there bill and they can’t get birds back. let’s go on and abuse some more animals as the system basiclly says it’s okay, we’ll just slap you on wrist and say oh don’t do it again and pay this money, no real interset in birds it’s stinks just like all the bird crap they lived in, shame on people like this, there day will come.

Abusers of birds are no different than abusers of dogs and cats and they should be punished the same! - Gayle Miller of Green Country, VA

I agree!!

What a heartbreaking story. Virginians must unite to change their laws. No human- nor animal deserves to be treated like property. What have those poor creatures done to deserve to be so grossly miss treated? Why in the United States do we allow breeding mills like the one in Florida- when we know that the majority of the birds end up neglected and miss treated?  All of this for the all mighty dollar… It’s tragic, but more so “Repulsive”!

From the very first account of the “Macaw Misuse” my heart has also gone out to the birds.  It is very hard to gain the trust of a large bird and yes, they do belong in the wild, but a bird without the wild up bringing, cannot survive in the outdoors.  They have been so altered that some, even with unclipped wings, do not know that they can fly!!  They are wild and have deadly beaks and talons which can come into play when they are frightened, and that is why some of them are kept in unhealthy small dirty cages.  Abusers of birds are no different than abusers of dogs and cats and they should be punished the same!