Good news?

Vikky has tonight, posted the following statement on the UKPR forum...

Why do we do it?

Well long and short of it all is we arent!!!

Failure or success?? make up your own minds

Im sure some of you will be pleased to hear we will no longer be taking in birds!!!!

why??

because deal with parrots we can do,deal with people anymore,we wont!!

(present events with barney aside )

the whole team is sick and tired of being ground down all the time by those that are sick and twisted enough to continually snipe,pick and generally be nasty,(not directed at presentently posting members)we are sick of those who think that being a member entitles them to know everything about the ins and outs of the rescue,from who farted last to who's going to fart next,we are sick of people that have nothing better to do than criticise what they cant be bothered to get of their Arses and do themselves,we are sick of people that assume a lot but actually know nothing,we are sick of spending money to be told we are making money,we are sick of being told we arent good enough,when we are trying our best,we are sick of having to homecheck numpties for the sake of fairness,even though we all know they wont get a bird,we are sick of,we are sick of having to put up with all the crap we get just because people think they have the right to as "they are volunteers/fosterers,contributing forum members",we have put up with this for the last 2 years,and we kept plodding on for the sake of the birds

so what to do??? well

As UKPR despite what people think,is determined to help birds across the UK but are sick of people ruining the pleasure we used to get from doing this,we shall be cutting out those that mean we are constantly interrupted from the hard work we put in,so how do we do that

cut out the people

what we will be doing,is creating a huge database of rescues across the UK and leaving members to attach their personal experiences as to how it went,like for instance,the NPS we shall atach GG report for all to see,so that anyone that may be interested in homing a bird there,will be able to view this information to make a better informed desicion about whether to or not,we shall also be increasing the amount of general welfare information on the boards,and its obvious that the best information comes from you lot,i know i dont just speak for myself when i say,i fel very very releived about making this desicion,and it was one made by the committee,this in due course will be abolished,the constitution will be no more and both will be put in the bin,and we will be back to having good ole me in charge,arent you all glad that vikky the despot is back
we will still carry a lifelong responsibilty to the birds we have fostered,and all those currently in EC will be offered to their EC's before being found homes
so......all that is left to say is a huge great big thank you to all those that have helped past and present,with a special thank you to all the team,there shall be 4 admins

myself,linda alan and trish,with the addition of 2 or 3 mods

and if any of you are having secret liitle giggle because you are under the impression you won,or we have failed,go and have a look in the gallery on the website,i wouldnt call that a failure,and maybe you should consider the hate you feel so desparately is actually jealousy because you will just never be as good as we are,and we can sleep at night knowing we helped so many,you sleep at night dreaming that you could....

Hmmmm??

Yet another of the tried and tested tactics, to batten down the hatches and lie low until the storm blows over?

Not forgetting that we have seen it before, after the JJ and Mylo debacle, when the forum closed down (presumably to have a good clear out of any incriminating posts) for a while, before reappearing and continuing on as if nothing had happened with all mention of JJ and Mylo strictly banned.

Has to be said that the ranks of faithful disciples have rapidly dwindled over the past few days, following the emergence of the tragic story of poor little Barney. Little wonder really, when Vikky refers to her forum members so contemptuously, as "numpties" "who everyone knows won't [be given] a bird"

That will be those "numpties" that have kept her little empire afloat for the past two years!

Nice.

It would be great if this was to be the final ever post on this blog...

Somehow I doubt it will be.

Sadly, it was only a matter of time...

Updates below

Yesterday, I received a series of anonymous emails, asking if I could offer any help to someone wishing to expose yet another latest incident of truly gross ineptitude inflicted on one of the poor birds trustingly placed into UKPR care.

I was sceptical at first of the authenticity of the email, but have tonight learned that the horrific details that I was given, were, almost unbelievably, true. A former member of UKPR staff, Adele, telephoned me this evening to relay the very same, sickening story and to tell me that she had been sacked for disclosing the information to another staff member.

We all know how UKPR like to brush these things under the carpet and hope no one will speak up, which is the exact reason this blog was started over six months ago!

I would like to offer my sincere apologies to 'bradley' for my doubts regarding the information provided in the email.

The story I have been given is not a nice one but here goes...

UKPR had in their care two rescue male Cockatoos, an LSC named 'Barney' and U2 named 'Coco'. These birds had presumably been handed over for rehoming and their former owners no doubt, trusted that UKPR would provide the best possible safe and happy homes for their pets.

As I am banned from the forum and unwilling to expose my computer to the Trojan threats that are rife on their site, I am unaware of the day to day goings on at UKPR but apparently, a 'behaviourist expert' named Wesley Flowers has been recently recruited, to offer advice on the boards to members.

For one reason or another, Coco and Barney were recently handed into the care of Wesley Flowers (allegedly, no homecheck or similar was carried out on this person and it would seem his credentials as an 'expert' were simply taken on his word perhaps?)

Wesley, in his infinite wisdom apparently decided to cage the two birds together (one of which had known aggression issues) A situation that Vikky tonight, defends on her forum, thus...

firstly with regards to barney we are all totally devastated to hear of barneys death,it was vey sad and a very avoidable situation,and there were certainly things that none of us knew anything about!!!!!!!!! like them sharing a cage,if we had of known,we would have told wes to seperate them!!

Well that's alright then!!

UKPR are responsible for the duty of care owed to birds given over to them for rehoming... ANYONE putting themselves up as a potential fosterer should be thoroughly vetted and their circumstances, experience, knowledge scrutinised BEFORE a bird is handed over, particularly in the case of notoriously, 'difficult' birds like Cockatoos.

What happened next was perhaps inevitable to anyone with any knowledge or experience of Cockatoos... The birds fought resulting in Barney receiving serious bite injury to his foot.

From what I have been told, a vet visit, ensued but Barney then self mutilated, chewing off his own foot and consequently, very tragically died, presumably from blood loss.

What a horribly painful, tragic, needless and premature end to a beautiful bird's life.

I can't begin to say how sickened and saddened I am by this latest news.

I just hope that poor Barney's death will not go unheeded and that this sham of a 'rescue' will be now be closed down for good and it's organisers recognised for the pack of greedy, ignorant, charlatans they are.

RIP Barney, Good night and God bless little one xxx



Update 28th September, 2009

The following statement from Wesley Flowers has been posted on the UKPR forum today...

Hi everyone

I would like to clear a few things up. I have an introduction to me in the behaviour section of the forum. As for hands on experience I have 13 years with a wide range of psittacids. My experience range from breeding, hand rearing, positive reinforcement training, bird training for educational displays, and training out ‘problem behaviours’. On the academia side, as you can read in the introduction to the behaviour section, I am studying towards a degree in animal behaviour of which I have already done the animal training module and achieved an ‘A’ grade (this isn’t bad considering I have been out of education for a number of years), for this my course work was done on parrots.

In the unfortunate event regarding the Cacatua alba and the Cacatua sulphurea (Coco and Barney), I can only offer the sincerest of apologies to those concerned, mainly Dave and his family. I would like to state from the start some of the UKPR staff and Dave knew of the intention of introducing the two aforementioned birds together, and I would like to state that no concerns were raised regarding this, (I did have some PM’s with this in but now they have been removed). The injuries sustained in the squabble were minor regarding both birds (basically bites to digits, and Barney sustained a bite to ankle), it was not until Barney was caught and placed in a darkened box to recuperate the real damage was done. On inspection to ascertain the severity of the injuries sustained by Barney the shock of finding him with a self mutilated foot spurred me to get him to a vet for emergence treatment. At the vets, he and I alike were hopeful of a full recovery after an operation to remove the remains of his foot. Unfortunately over night before the operation Barney had tried to mutilate his foot again subsequently sustaining a huge blood loss, and Coco now only a few days on has fully recovered.

As for administration and communication, I can say that I have kept Dave and my contacts in UKPR up to date regarding all the birds progress that I have here belonging to them. Dave has been kept up to date regarding this matter if not by me by Vikky.

I would like to put this unfortunate sequence of events down to miss judgement on my part, this happens from time to time when dealing with animals as they can have very unpredictable and surprising natures. I can say that I have learnt from the costly mistake. I would like to state that the two aforementioned birds were cohabiting for three weeks before the squabble of which I witnessed them mutual preening a number of times. They were not just chucked into the same cage, their behaviours and displays were observed post introduction. I would not have introduced them if at any time I had seen any defence displays from either bird. Observations were made on introduction, this was very interesting because no aggression or even territorial display was noted from the original cage proprietor. A pecking order was established quickly of which the Cacatua sulphurea was the more dominant, what could this suggest?

Kindest regards
Wes


WORDS FAIL ME........

NPS: From a Sanctuary to a Zoo

We understand that in March (four months ago) there was an investigation and subsequent report conducted into the National Parrot Sanctuary by Greg Glendell, who is a retired Environmental Health Officer and a professional consultant on parrot welfare.

Based upon Mr Glendell’s credentials, any report he produces should be respected and the facts therein investigated. However, the question is… Who is there to hand the reports to, when it comes to parrot welfare?

The NPS was set up as a parrot sanctuary where people could take their pet parrots once they could, for whatever reasons, no longer cope with the responsibility of caring for them. The concept of a sanctuary is an admirable one but ‘who’ is running the operation determines whether or not it is a good sanctuary, or a place of misery and cruelty for these highly sensitive and intelligent creatures.

The report Mr Glendell has produced states, in very clear terms, that the parrots living within the NPS are being held in harsh, unsanitary and unsatisfactory conditions. On the evidence it would appear to have become nothing more than a money making venture for its current owners, at the complete detriment to birds.

Some people have nowhere else to turn when the difficult decision of having to re-home their parrots and the NPS on the surface and from their hype looks like the ideal place to rehome the family pet. They have all of the credentials from government bodies endorsing them, and have even been given Zoo status which means members of the public can be charged to view the parrots living within the zoo.

People wishing to donate their bird to the NPZ are now charged a ‘quarantine fee’ of approximately £50. For most people, £50 is a small price to pay for what you believe to be, ‘peace of mind’ over the future of your beloved bird, but after several years of trading, the £50 per bird intake fee and the Zoo charge to show the birds to a viewing public, the profits have clocked up nicely. Sadly the aviaries the birds are housed in have filled up in the process too.

Some would say. filled up way beyond capacity, to the point of what has become cruel, with aviaries now in seriously run down conditions and very questionable husbandry issues.

You will have to read the report for yourself to get a clearer picture of the conditions parrots are now living in, within the NPS.

Judging from this insight of how the zoo is run, if a family rehome their beloved pet parrot that they have lived with for many years and decide at some point that they miss their pet so much that they want him/her back or that the conditions were not as expected, you would think the NPS would allow the owners pet to go back to them.

The bird was their property until they paid £50 for it to be rehomed into the sanctuary after all. This would lower the number of birds in overcrowded aviaries, and the living plight of the poor bird in question.

Below is a copy of a heartbreaking email from someone who found themselves in exactly this position and the NPZ’s response.
…………………………
Forum: How is my tick tock doing?

hi this is going to sound so still can anyone tell me if there is any way of me geting my bird back add him from few days old he 12 year old now and missing him like hell so if anyone know a way let me know i have hateing myself for sending him away i need to have him home here with me i never been married and got no kids so he was my baby can not say anymore to cut up just puting this on here so if any one know a way pz tell me thanks

Reply: Sorry, but no.

This is the reason that we tell everyone who wants to donate a bird to the Zoo, to make sure in their own mind that they are doing the right thing BEFORE they bring their bird to us.

This is solely for the birds benefit, as it is unfair and unkind to them to send them back into a cage when they have seen what a better life they can have when flying free with other birds.

In Tick-Tiock's case he has now been out in the aviary for over 4 months now, and although you may be regretting sending him here, he has made friends with other Greys, and I'm sure he wouldn't want to go back to living in a cage on his own, do you ?

Although it must be upsetting for anyone that has to part with their bird, you said in your first post that you were sending him here because you hoped he could have a better life, and that is what we hope he is getting now.
…………………………

For NPZ not to allow the parrot to go back to its original owner you have to ask the question; why not? NPZ have given their reasons for refusing this request but with a little searching a more sinister story could emerge. Anyone involved within parrot rescue knows that for a hand reared, parent deprived and human imprinted pet bird to be back in a home environment rather than an overcrowded outdoor aviary has got to be the best option for the bird in question.

So why have the NPS blocked this?

There are reports of several birds dying after being in the zoo for a short while, with until very recently, no facilities for quarantine or sick bay. The cynics among us might say this keeps the stock down and the £50s coming in on new birds!

If Greg Glendell’s report of serious failings concerning the birds currently housed at NPZ hold up under scrutiny, then action must be taken for the sake of the welfare of those birds and strict guidelines put in place to protect them in the future.

We very much look forward to seeing Mr. Glendell’s report from March finally being put into the public domain so that the parrot community can be aware of what is happening at the NPS and warn others of the conditions there. Hopefully, action will be taken for the sake of the poor birds that are now a money-making attraction for a paying pubic on behalf of their new owner who is paid £50 each time for the privilege.

From a sanctuary into a zoo.

More threats from Alan of UKPR

Alan H - A profile

As outside observers of the online parrot shop, UKPR, and then being involved with their fostering practices, much has now been learned about them, their practices and the exploitation of the parrot community within the UK

All of the evidence gathered is on this blog for anyone to read, and is based initially on a welfare issue concerning Mylo the Military Macaw.

It all started when Mylo was rescued from these people and their 'EC merry go round' that birds are put on, until a buyer can be found for them. This was illegal in the case of Mylo & JJ in the UK because they are both CITES listed birds. Sadly, Mylo's bonded partner, who was meant to travel with him, was left behind in her previous EC's home due to UKPR's inability to transport large birds like Macaws, with one of the pair being injured in the process.

The bird rescue community all know that breeding and rescue is counter productive, and the organisers of UKPR are all bird breeders. They trade in rescue birds for profit, and place rescue birds into breeding situations.

How can anybody who knows anything about parrot rescue, or is involved in it, say that is acceptable?

They have bullied, threatened and silenced everybody for the past 2 years who has disagreed with their conduct, and all of the people who have been on the receiving end of their vitriol, are out there, ready and willing to talk to who ever wants to know the truth.

Here, once again Alan, a UKPR founder, is issuing threats, along with a few puerile names that are supposed to degrade, but do nothing but expose him for who he is.

He has been weighed, measured, and found wanting, so what is left but name calling like a silly little boy in the school playground? Nobody wanted it to go this far, but it was obviously meant to be because the story is bigger now than Mylo & JJ, they have been the ones at the centre of our action.

You have my phone number Alan, and the court papers over ownership of Mylo have not arrived in the past several months as stated they would be, which goes to show your empty threats, and bully boy tactics, just like you have resorted to here in this comment. (see below)

Imagine being a woman on the end of his bullying, and threats?

The police and DEFRA have both been fully notified over Mylo & JJ though, thanks to advice from mick-sue-fisher, because the RSPCA had refused to investigate this case in the beginning.

Further reading: A response to UKPR's forum chat

As a side note; Alan has been boasting about his breeding activities over the last few months on Parrot Link forum.

If people choose to breed parrots then that is their prerogative, as there are always people who want to buy cute little baby parrots so they can bring them up in this world as birds born into captivity. However, if somebody sets up a medium size breeding programme, as Alan has done, then they surely shouldn't also be rescuing them, and then placing some in a breeding programme that simply exacerbates the problem of birds needing rescue from people who cannot cope with them.

Further reading: The business plan

Please click to see comment


As for the accusation that Caron being "someone with dead and sick birds around her being the last person to criticize others"... In the many years of keeping parrots, the tragic decision having to be taken to have ONE rescued bird mercifully euthanised due to chronic cloacal prolapse (for which every avenue of treatment was taken), is hardly a bad track record!

Taking on rescue birds is fraught with such difficulties due to the very nature of unfortunate previous circumstance. Parrots are very sensitive creatures in all ways, that is why sometimes they can fall ill under very sad and unavoidabable situations such as Pebbles the CAG and her prolapse. One of UKPR's rescue birds that has history intertwined with this blog, died several months ago. In my opinion there are others that have 'disappeared' in questionable circumstances if you track the paper trail based on the evidence.

Further reading: Cherry the Eclectus

Furthermore, it has recently come to our attention that a UKPR rescue bird was placed in a foster home with undiagnosed Psittacosis placing both the new carer and their other birds at serious risk. It has fallen to the new carer to have the condition both diagnosed and treated. Mylo also arrived here with clear signs of respiratory disfunction that Vikky was unable to shed any light on despite having had him in UKPR care for six months! How on earth can a so-called 'rescue' organisation possibly justify blatant negligence on such a scale?!!

Charlatans the lot of them!

A response to UKPR's forum chat

Please click image to read comment:

It appears that some of those amongst the parroty community who know about Mylo & JJ, may have either forgotten about them, don't care, or are unwilling to allow any discussion over their welfare even though they profess to be bird lovers.

If Mylo & JJ could speak up for themselves what would they say?

We and others are watching very closely what is now happening to JJ, the Catalina Macaw who was seperated from her bonded partner Mylo by the charlatans at UKPR, because her health has drastically deteriorated since that time.

Only the insane, after reading all of the evidence on this blog, would support UKPR, or believe that Mylo will be going back into their grubby hands.

Is it any wonder 'Flakeyboy' has emigrated over there?

We posted yesterday how Adele smokes around both her own and rescue birds, which is contrary to what herself and others have stated about her habit on the comments section of this blog.

Are her Macaws UKPR rescue birds? If so, is not smoking in the same room as them on video, a clear breach of UKPR's own fostering rules?

We know Mylo was rescued from her smoky environment with the evidence on this blog, and JJ the fully plucked, sad, little girl is still there.

Vikky in her insanity believes for some reason that Mylo will be going back to them?

Does anyone with an ounce of intelligence really think that there is any way we are going to allow Mylo go back to them?

His rights and welfare as a living creature and protected species will be defended from everyone who wants to harm him, and that is a fact!

And do not think for one moment that the RSPCA are going to seize him either, because they are the ones who handed Mylo to UKPR in the first place, and if we have to fight them for Mylo's present and future well-being then we will do so, and put a case together against them and their failings over this case.

Mylo has his own personality, has settled into a loving, stable environment with other birds and people, and has become a part of the family. He is very happy, so is not going anywhere.

Would anyone reading this just sit back and allow one of their rescue birds to be taken from them, and go back to the likes of Adele and Vikky?

If UKPR want Mylo back because they own a piece of paper saying they own him, then serve court papers, and allow a court of law to decide on his future welfare based upon the evidence, and then we can sue your "a***s".

We have better things to do than build a case and present it to a court of law, which is why that has not been done yet, and we have left the police and DEFRA to do their job, in the hope that they will act for the sake of JJ, which sadly has not happened yet, but watch this space!

UKPR are the ones trading illegally in endangered species, and saying "I didn't know" will not hold up when you have promoted yourself as a 'Parrot Rescue' and traded in birds over the past couple of years.

These rescue birds are not commercial property to be pushed from pillar to post, and for profit when they can be. They are living creatures who are at the mercy of humans.

What a joke within the bird rescue community. A bunch of proven bird breeders masquarading as bird rescuers, and duping the RSPCA in the process!

There is a very clear cut case of animal abuse here, and it is only a matter of time until all of the evidence is gathered for a succesful prosecution. This includes all the other criminal acts that we have on file that have been handed to the police, and when push comes to shove, those people who these acts concern will either be interviewed under caution, or asked to give a statement.

If you are one of those people then you should be thinking now about what you are going to do.

There is a lot in the news about the plight of pets in Britain at the moment due to the recession, and there have been some successful prosecutions for cruelty cases reported in the media. This case concerning UKPR is a prime potential example compared to the ones that have been in the papers.

We already have the documented evidence of UKPR trading illegally in endangered species, and the police and DEFRA have both been notified, with a formal statement given concerning this case.

Bird rescue, is just that 'RESCUE' no matter what form that rescue takes, and Mylo has been rescued from a charlatan rescue called UKPR. Sadly, his partner JJ is still there, in a terribly, sorry state and we can only hope and pray that rainbow bridge is not around the corner for her as we sit on watching from afar.

Vikky and Adele apparently think that the authors of this blog need to manufacture 'followers' of our cause and create false identities to write comments and provide an illusion of support. This laughably, preposterous idea simply serves to reinforce our assertions about the cloak of self delusion these people surround themselves in.

Who's the LIAR????

Apparently Adele "doesn't smoke in the house or around the birds", according to Adele herself, and Bella as can be seen throughout the comments section of this blog.

When I stated on this blog, that Mylo arrived here with dirty feathers, stinking of cigarette smoke, which took nearly two weeks of constant sprays and showers to fade, I was branded a "LIAR" and told by Adele on the phone that "Jay smokes and that any smell on Mylo would have been from his journey to me in Jay's van."

Well, someone is certainly a liar and it isn't me!

Take a look at the video Adele posted on the UKPR forum last night to demonstrate how her two Macaws spoil her evening television viewing with their screaming... (No mention of JJ of course.)

One might wonder why the poor birds are locked away in their cage instead of being out and about, enjoying the interaction we all know these birds crave, while she is obviously sitting in the room??? But more pertinently...

If you watch the very beginning of the video carefully, you will notice a cloud of cigarette smoke rising up from the right hand side of the shot...

Anyone who keeps parrots knows how important it is to protect their sensitive respiratory systems from airborne toxins. Adele obviously chooses to ignore this crucial and basic welfare issue and force those birds to endure exposure to her disgusting smoke.

Perhaps the screams are for a bit of fresh air???

Shame on you Adele :o(

And some people wonder why we have defended Mylo from going back to these people from the very beginning? Others will not even talk about this relevant bird welfare issue concerning a so-called 'bird rescue' that is nothing more than an online buy and sell swap shop.

What has become of JJ??

Update below...

From the concerned emails and phone calls I have received, it's quite obvious that I'm not the only one who hasn't forgotten about the plight of poor JJ. However, the silence from camp UKPR has been deafening regarding how she is faring.

What are they hiding or ashamed of?

We all witnessed the sad and sorry state she was in last time she appeared on the pitiful video that was swiftly removed after peoples horrified reactions to it.

For all anyone knows she has been shipped out to who-knows-where and is not even still with Adele?

A couple of weeks ago I contacted Adele, by PM on the Parrot-Link forum, to enquire after JJ, as she has done in the past to ask about Mylo. Unfortunately, my message was met with stony silence.

Apparently, I'm not the only one whose concern has fallen on deaf ears. A member of their own forum, 'Dawnie' also posed the question on the boards and was completely ignored. I expect that none of the other members dare to step out of line and mention this, lest they incur the wrath of Vikky and get banned or ostracised from their little group.

I know for a fact, from testimonial evidence, that Macaws have long memories and that JJ and Mylo will not have forgotten one another. These two poor birds were wrenched apart after many years close companionship, through no fault or choice of their own and now have to suffer the loss of one another through senseless and selfish human pride and nothing more.

Mylo continues to have a good life here and I have nothing to hide regarding his happiness, health or welfare. Doesn't JJ deserve that same consideration?

It was perhaps even more astonishing to see a recent post made on the UKPR forum by Adele, proudly showing off her own two Blue and Gold Macaws, Armani and Indi, in their new double cage... Which just happens to be the very same cage that was donated by a well wisher for JJ and Mylo to have as their home...

No mention however, of poor JJ who, one is only to assume, has been relegated to the original tiny cage she shared with Mylo or one of Adele's old Macaw cages.

See here and here

Perhaps even more staggering was the following comment made by Adele whilst posting on the subject of her two birds in their lovely new spacious cage. Adele's comment

Well... "separate two macaws" is certainly what she did wasn't it?!!!

Do these people have no shame or compassion whatsoever???

Update

It seems that certain quarters are keeping a close eye on this blog as no sooner had I posted the above article when, as if by magic, a thread posted by Adele reporting on JJ appeared on the UKPR forum today!

Adele's report on JJ

We are certainly very pleased to hear that JJ is reported to be doing better recently. However, how tragic is it, that it was thought necessary to put her through all this trauma and unhappiness, even to the extent of medicating her, simply for the sake of human pride and reluctance to admit that a mistake had been made but would be swiftly rectified for the sake of the birds?

On a separate note... Mylo continues to thrive here and enjoy the free range, cageless life he was always accustomed to. With the warmer weather now here, he is spending plenty of time in the garden with his Macaw companions, feeling the fresh air and sun on his feathers.