Re: to Janet - pet birds in Saudi/OT

["Janet Jeanpierre" <jajeanpierre@t0WleGc5A-U0xV-HL4-xnMGtia6SiTNOviBYRb7Il4boPNbsFticzF8jLp_PohNCTA8354OBx5Z0bVeFtA.yahoo.invalid>]

--- In Freeflight@yahoogroups.com, "shanlung9" <shanlung9@...> wrote:
> Janet,
>
> I am extremely interested why you have such strong words 'Pet birds
in
> Saudi Arabia live horrid lives.'
>
> Were there some incidents that you have seen over there that lead to
> your beliefs?
>
> Believe me, it is not idle curiousity that make me ask this.
>
> Shanlung

Good morning, Shanlung.

In general lots of things have pretty horrible lives in Saudi Arabia,
many two-footed.

I've been to a lot of pet stores and the birds are kept in horrid
conditions.  I've seen newly-imported wild caught Greys jammed into a
tiny cage so that the one short perch was jammed with about 10  and
two or three were on the floor or the sides.  (The cage would be about
18" or 20" wide).  No one has ever heard a Grey growl the way these
wild caughts growled!

Some would be crowded onto perches where the customers poked and
yelled at them.  I once bought an Eleonora Too (he died from PBFD
along with the very young Grey I bought at the same time) with cigaret
burns in his feathers.

These birds were fed 100% sunflower seed diet.  Pellets are difficult
to find, but when I first had birds they were unavailable.

Books on care are not available.  The staff of the bird shop (the best
in Riyadh, by the way) were only interested in selling their wares.

Cages are in general very small, about 18 or 20 inches long and wide.
That is the norm.  Birds are not pets, but just in a cage.

Are you planning to work in The Kingdom?  If you are, I know two good
breeders and know the CITES manager.

Email me off list if you want to continue this discussion.

Janet