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This may be a repeat for some, but I though I would add it to this forum too. A friend told me about this circumstance which happened recently....

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Rocco, the African Gray was lost in August 2009 in Parma, Ohio. He was returned to the happy owners (M/M Livingston)almost a month later by a very honest lady.

This is the story. Amy spotten the African Gray high in a tree at night. She located a ladder, was in a dress, but still climbed up 20 feet to grab the bird. Thankfully both Amy and bird returned to the ground safely.

It so happened that Amy just healed from one minor operation and was scheduled for 2 major operations a few days after she found Rocco, so this young lady was not well. But she was an animal lover, had an African Gray of her own, and did her best to rescue the lost African Gray high up in the tree. She actually would have liked to keep Rocco as a buddy for her own Gray, but she did the HONEST thing to try to find the owners and return their bird.

It took a friend of hers to help her search the ads and the internet a few weeks to locate the owners. Mr. & Mrs. Livingston were offering a nice $250 reward for the return of their precious bird.

The owners, it turned out, lived close to Amy in Parma, Ohio. They raced over to get their African Gray. They were very grateful, grabbed their bird, and left.

Sounds like a happy ending doesn't it??? Wrong.

It turned out that the happy owners stiffed Amy on a reward. Amy received nothing for all of her efforts. A friend called to congratulate the Livingstons on the return of their bird and Mrs. Livingston claimed that Amy
"refused" to accept the advertised reward (not true) so they just did not leave anything for her when they left. But they "might" get her a gift card later.

To this date Amy has NOT heard from these people.

Advertising a reward for a lost animal, getting the bird back happy and healthy, and then giving the rescuer nothing in return I think was absolutely shameful.

(I will gladly print a retraction, if Amy ever receives the promised "reward".)

I think this circumstance will ruin it for the next person who loses a valuable item.....

Moral of the story: It is possible to get your lost parrot back. But when you advertise a reward -- PAY IT to the honest person who returns the parrot back to you. That is money well spent!

It is so true any more, people want something for nothing. I am not saying that anyone should receive a reward after the fact of finding anything, but when you do place an amount upon something than follow through. I never heard from anyone that was even close to claiming the bird that landed in our yard. Several people have contacted me, but their birds were not even close to the one I found. It has been nearly two months now, so I do not know if I will hear.

Update:
Owner was contacted a few weeks later and "insisted" the person finding the bird "turned down" the reward. I doubt that very much cause Amy was financially in need. The owner then promised to get the Amy a "gift card" from a local store. NEVER HAPPENED.

My point in this message was that if you advertise on the Internet or anywhere that a REWARD is available, that reward should be promptly paid. And if you do lose a bird, be sure to advertise all over the Internet. There are lots of lost bird sites.

Since this is summer, lost birds are common. I also found a bird earlier this year, no luck finding a bird listed of its species anywhere on the Internet. I put money into vet checking the bird extensively. The real owner would have to reimburse me for the vet check, cage, and food I bought plus it would be nice to get something extra for giving this bird a safe home as I am a parrot person also.

I cannot really afford these expenses and it is nice to be a sucker "having a good heart", but I have to be practical. It might sound callous, but no reimbursement--no bird for them.

I am past the legal holding time limit so technically the bird is mine, not necessarily that I want to keep it. But the next step would be my legal option. I am beginning to think someone just turned "my" bird loose, whether for not being able to care for it any longer, or an evil spouse/significant other just got even with his/her roomate for some reason. (I watch too many court shows!)