upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

I know nothing of this rescue. I went to the web site to get an opinion re signing or not. All I found was a very angry message about getting no help with the birds since the man got hurt. Apparently seriously. My question is, no matter how much good he has done in the past, is he currently able to care for the birds? If not, perhaps the animal control person was acting in the best interest of the birds. Do you have more details?

I'll assume Beaks & Wings is in Weatherford....
Dozens of exotic birds taken from Weatherford home
http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/loca ... _photoview


Beaks & Wings Parrot Rescue
PO Box 1672
Weatherford, TX 76086


I must wonder how long John went without help. How long he has had his back injury. I must also wonder why no one could help him.

It looks as if these people were really caring and trying to do the right thing and the number of birds they ended up with was just too many. Maybe there were just unable to turn away a bird in need. The guy said they all looked well fed, and the cages looked like really nice and roomy cages from what I could see.....some were pretty dirty I guess, but cleaning that many cages must be some chore! and if he was sick or had a back injury or whatever it was, this would explain why they may not have been as clean as they may have wanted. It's sad....the birds all actually looked pretty spunky and happy, but even if the home where they were had the best of intentions, it's possible they may gotten a little carried away. They should not have taken all of the birds away from him.....at least left a reasonable amount that they could care for without being overwhelmed. That's alot of birds to find homes for! and although these birds are probably a little scared by all of the changes and new surroundings......I'm sure wherever they are that they are being well cared for. People think shelter is an aweful thing.....It's really not! We had a dog that we could not keep due to really bad separation anxiety and he was detroying the house and the shelter where we took him was the most caring wonderful place for animals that I ever seen and they found him the RIGHT home for him in about three weeks! took him on walks, he got attention and the guy there would take him home with him at night sometimes, so it's not always the worst situation for animals to be in this kind of situation. I hope it all works out and they are able to find homes for these birds.

I knew John from another board. His name was "Beaks." Beaks was a very knowledgeable parrot owner, who helped give advice to those in need. He helped with the rescue of parrots after Katrina, actually going there with other rescuers. Some people brought him birds in horrible condition that he managed to bring back to good health. He took these birds to vets and paid for it out of his own pocket. It sounds like perhaps the animal control officer may not be very knowledgeable about parrots. She said they were in poor condition; however, from the pictures I've seen, they were kept in adequate cages and looked pretty healthy. Many non-parrot owners often think plucking parrots are mistreated or unhealthy, but those birds were brought to Beaks in that condition.

Here is some additional information:
http://www.birdboard.com/forum/bird-res ... cared.html

Were 100+ birds too much for Beaks and his wife to care for? Probably, especially after his accident. However, the part that really upsets me most is that apparently Beaks went to animal control, asking them to take and rehome some of these birds. They refused! Isn't that what animal control is there for? And then this same animal control officer comes in and takes them all. Now what will happen to these birds?

John has also been keeping parrots since before there were avian vets, so vets often go to him for help... or so someone else has said.

http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/loca ... 05912.html

Not everyone has had a good experience with him. By the sounds of it, he reminds me of a guy in Las Vegas looking for free birds, most particularly medium to large species... including an amazon and a galah. If you don't give him a free bird then he ridicules you and sends you harassing e-mails. Although his place for the birds looks fabulous, he's not rehoming any birds.

I don't really know John, as I've never met him, however I have noticed he tends to be very strongly opinionated, and he can also be rude. I don't mean to put him down, make him out to be the bad guy, but from another person's experience with dealing with him, John is taking in free or cheap birds and rehoming them for a higher price.

I really hope this was a mistake however, and that it is due to John's back going out on him thus having issues taking care of all the birds, and asking for help but not receiving any.

And here's a post by someone from Craigslist who supposedly dealt with John.
He is only to profit from your bird. I have met a few people who have dealt with him and he is only about getting your bird for free, or cheap and is either hoarding them, or reselling at the bird fairs.

I ask him a while back about help for my birds if he knew where I could get some discounted cages and he quickly shut me down that he could not help me for that. He being the EXPERT and having experience for 30+ years he should have many people and connections for such things. I am not a bird expert, but I have connections for bird food and TRY to get people to keep their birds rather than parting with them. I guess if I had offered to give him and bird he would have been more "helpful".

I am getting tired of seeing this bird begger on CL and he needs to get a life and go somewhere else where they are stupid enough to give him their birds.

Of course, it costs money to take birds to vets so it only makes sense to ask for adoption fees to help recoup the cost of vet bills. He's got a few things going against him... i.e. many birds "worth $1,500-$2,000" when it's more like $500-$1,200.... (for the larger species) second, he's dealing with a lot of second hand birds who are plucked, malnourished, etc when he gets them. If he provides good care and takes them to vets to ensure health, then if AC took any of the birds before that could happen, that's another strike against him.

Case in point, someone, without knowing the history of my two conures, thought that one conure was plucking herself due to stress from the other... however, I got her the way she is, as well as mutilating herself, not plucking. She rarely mutilates now, and I'd say she is doing a lot better than when I first got her. They also said "it is painful to see this video" because they didn't understand. My two conures aren't kept together, but they were together in the video. I don't know if the person ever got my reply to their comment, let alone understood it! (their comment was not in English and so I got a rough translation, and didn't bother trying to translate my own message to them)

It's a strike if the birds look plucked, barbering, etc. We all know that you can't always get a bird to stop bad behaviors. It's a strike if the cages are messy. Birds are messy, plain and simple, although there is a point when it becomes *TOO* messy.

This is from someone who has known John for several years, and may be rather long. The posts from this person are about John, and I do trust her. She gives another perspective to the situation.

ok, I do have to step in here. I DO know John. I respect him and respect the work he has done over his lifetime to help those in need. Its easy to add two cents in when you can google info on someone, and watch interaction on the net.

In defence of his tell it like it is attitude...yes thats John. When you have seen the worst in human life and have seen as much damage done to birds over your lifetime as he has, you tend not to sugar coat things. You get tired of society and generations of birds being physically hurt by humans. I see myself doing that after watching people over 30 years...and John has I believe two more decades experience under his belt then I do.

I know he has personally taken in birds that needed medical attention, helped them and then rehomed them for whatever the medical fees were. Whats so terrible about that? IT happens all the time. Oh and another little known fact, he is well respected by the vets in the area. He has helped them grow in their knowledge of birds as well. Some people forget there are a hand full of us that have had birds longer then ABVP vets have been around, and or, bird vets in general. Vets have also learned by working with us old timers. (yes me included)


There are a few people who packed up and ran down to help after hurricaine katrina. Guess what John was one. He spent countless hours, weeks and his own funds to help what society was forgetting about...the parrots.
His back is one of a few issues he has had to deal with over the past few years.....He also got extremely sick after helping katrina birds. He permently damaged his lungs due to what he had to endure to make sure the birds victims would survive.

When the time came for him to ask for help, which is RARE, he recieved none.
he hurt his back and had to rely on others to help him. NO ONE showed. NO ONE had done for him, what he had done his whole life. Imagine if we were bedridden how our cages would look. Imagine if we had to rely on others who thought it was a fun joke to offer help and not show....

I can tell you when I had a terminally Ill African Grey, John, a complete stranger, contacted me via the net, to help me. That was one of 3 people, out of thousands of people who read my story, that offered help. Offering me anything I needed. either information, experience, or funds if I needed them.

I feel terrible and helpless to help this man who has done so much over his years in Aviculture. He has done so much for us as a community, and this is how he is paid back. Yet another act of cruelty on the behalf of humans.


------------------------------------------------------------------

John ******* of Beaks and Wings Parrot Rescue in Weatherford, Texas left Sep 13th, for Baton Rouge to help the feathered victims of Katrina. He is driving an S10 Chevy pickup truck with a topper and the truck is stuffed with 500 lbs of bird food, medicines, and various supplies such as syringes for feeding baby birds. He is also bringing a generator.

John will be reporting back to us the situation he finds in New Orleans. He will be working with the Louisiana Animal Control Association, the U.S. Humane Society, and the Texas Humane Society and we will post his feedback here on the main page of our website as we receive it. John's wife will be looking after the birds in Texas and if you know of anyone in the Weatherford, TX, area that could donate some time to do such things like power wash cages, they'd be much appreciative. The phone number at Beaks and Wings Parrot Rescue is 817-***-****.

John has asked us to let people know that there is no gas available in New Orleans and surrounding areas. Anyone going to New Orleans needs to take enough gas to get them out. John will be bringing with him not only 20 gallons of gas, but medical supplies and food for the birds.

John is headed for Baton Rouge to meet with Donna Powell of 911 Parrots who has taken in 100 parrots so far and reports are that there could be as many as 500 birds at Donna's home by this weekend.

Another kind person who is pitching in to help the rescued birds in Baton Rouge is avian behaviourist, Mattie Sue Athan who told John to "Get your butt down here!"

Update - Thurs, Sept 15, 2005

Just prior to John's 9 hour drive to Baton Rouge the medical bag he had on his truck was stolen. John called from Baton Rouge this morning with the following news:

"It's a mess down here. We need volunteers to help take care of the birds. There's electricity and the phone is supposed to be working but service is sporadic. There are now close to 200 rescued birds at Donna Powell's home. Housing is being built. It's hot! and you can cut the humidity with a knife!"


Update - Sunday, Sept 18, 2005

Anyone who has a bird needing rescue, call Teresa at **-***-*****in Texas and she will get the information to the rescuers in Baton Rouge. Phone service in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge area is sporadic.

A number of stories and rumors have been flying around the internet regarding an incident on Friday, Sep 16 at 911 parrot rescue where rescue operations for the avian victims has been ongoing for the past 2 weeks . This is what actually happened:

The rescue efforts were disrupted by an extreme animal rights group, ALF - Animal Liberation Front - whose members were IMPERSONATING people from LSU (Louisiana State University) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). LSU never heard of these people and has issued a letter documenting that. They were also spreading rumors of all the shelters in Alabama being full and parrots being euthanized, that the governor had signed a rule that, due to health reasons, no animals could leave the state, out of state volunteers would be arrested, etc.

The above information has been supplied by John ******* of Beaks and Wings Parrot Rescue inTexas, and Dave S**** of Parrots-R-4Ever Parrot Rescue in Alabama. Both of these gentlemen are voluntering their time to help the rescue operations at Donna Powell's home in Baton Rouge. John has asked us to pass on the following message:

"Quit with the gossip. Do not pass this crap on, it's interfering with the work that's being done. This place is hell and the rumors are making it worse. Everyone is working their butts off trying to get what needs to be done done. If you're not going to help, then stand back and shut up. It's bad enough as it is." He also says to send thanks to those that HAVE helped by sending supplies, cash, food, etc. They are wiped out down there... little sleep and non-stop work. The conditions are awful, and the circumstances draining.

Update - Sept 20, 2005

Five more birds were rescued yesterday. Today the rescuers are heading to St. Bernard, a suburb of New Orleans. Mattie Sue is leaving today. Tracey from Pampered Parrots Avian Rescue in Spokane, WA has arrived to help. The devastation is just awful. It is heartbreaking to see the dead cats and dogs and birds who have drowned in their cages. There is a muck and toxic sludge that makes your eyes burn. The rescuers heard gunfire yesterday and there are police and military checkpoints.

It's costing $30 to $40 a day just in gas to go out for rescue operations.

Update - Sept 25, 2005

Hurricane Rita broke levees. The 9th ward still has dead people. Green flys are everywhere. The mud burns your skin like battery acid. Birds are loose and flying around; cockatoos, macaws and quakers. Food has been put out for the birds. Port Arthur is trashed. There is mold everywhere.

Update - Oct 21, 2005

The hurricanes last month created a catastrophic situation that no one was prepared for. It brought out the best and the worst. The purpose of this message is to tell our visitors that there were some very wonderful people who took time out of their lives to help rescue the avian victims of the hurricanes and it is very unfortunate that there are also some people out there that are creating erroneous and slanderous information regarding the rescue efforts. We know the truth because we were in contact with John *****who was one of the volunteers. He called periodically to report the situation.


Can you judge a person you know no history about? Only taking things at face value?

Really sad story! Poor guy.It's a shame that he didn't get the help that he needed after giving so much!

**UPDATE**
Per the The City of Weatherford-Parker County Animal Shelter site:

"The birds were awarded to the City of Weatherford but are not available for adoption at this time.
You may come to the shelter to complete an application for adoption.
Applications are available at the shelter during business hours or you may download one here.

Included in the birds that will be placed for adoption are African Grays, Conures, Macaws,
Cockatoos, Amazons, Quakers, Parakeets, Cockatiels, and Love Birds."

The birds are NOT going back to their former owners/rescuers home.