the most WONDERFUL news...

Last night I received the following email...

"Dear Wild Bird Supporter,Over the last two years, you were kind enough to lend your name to an impressive group effort to get the EU to stop importing millions of wild birds.As of January 11, 2007, I'm delighted to inform you that the EU has decided to do exactly that -- all wild bird imports have been banned permanently. The temporary ban on all live bird imports has been extended until June 2007, and the new regulation takes effect on 1 July 2007. Read more about the ban on our website at: http://worldparrottrust.org/.I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your enthusiastic support of this effort and hope you and your organizations feel proud to have been part of making this momentous decision possible.This ban will spare about four million wild birds a year... forever! Take a moment to picture a flock of four million birds and think of them flying free! Working together, we've all made this a reality.Happy New Year, indeed!Sincerely,James D. Gilardi, Ph.D., DirectorThe World Parrot Trust Glanmor HouseHayle, Cornwall, TR27 4HB "

I have actively supported this cause, and this new ruling is THE BEST NEWS! THANK YOU TONY BLAIR! (never thought I would hear myself say that but i am so so truly grateful to him for his backing).
Bird exportation/importation is a very cruel and barbaric practise.
And before they even get to the stage where they are packed tight in mini cages with no room to move, defecate and even breathe properly (with no food or water), some of these poor creatures have been through the most horrific process.

Take baby african greys for example (this is the same species as simba). They are taken from their nests, way too young for a lot of them to cope without being fed by Mummy, not weaned at all. The poacher then opens the baby birds wings.
and stamps on them so they can't fly away.
Brutal enough yes?

Then bear in mind that some of those feathers may not be properly developed yet. These are called 'blood feathers', and it is like a vein running through the inside of the feather. That baby bird who has managed not to die yet from stress, fright etc can then bleed to death.

If these poor birds have made it to this stage, they are bundled into cages with no room to move- interesting fact here to tie in with this- in the UK it is ILLEGAL for a bird to be housed in a cage that does not allow it to fully open its wing span and totally move around in every direction.
But it is deemed as acceptable to these beasts to cram them in a cage where they can't even breathe properly. All for a measly bit of money.

Ok, so the above is usually the worst case scenario, and generally the illegal importation trade- but having these new rulings means this will be enforced more harshly. No birds coming in, and therefore these shipments of birds will be caught.

At this stage I would like to point out that Simba is 100% British bred in captivity (and lives the life of riley!). We now have more than enough captive birds to breed from in this country, and all of Europe, so really, there is absolutely no reason for any imports, a fact which I am sure will have helped with this ruling. Many species of bird face extinction, largely due to these practises.

As you all know (and if you don't you must have been looking on here with your eyes shut lol) parrots are a topic that I am hugely passionate about. I HATE people who buy a bird without learning about the HUGE commitment they are taking on, and subsequently get rid of the bird, for it to be passed on and on...then it ends up in a very over run sanctuary- this isn't like animal shelters at all, we have hardly any parrot sanctuarys, partly because parrot keeping is so specialised and requires a lot of specific knowledge. the fact that parrots are like little toddlers all of their life. they require an awful lot of work and dedication. and for that, to the people who selflessly open and run these places (usually out of their own money) I am so very thankful. It is these people who have to deal with the wild imports that have been taken on as a pet, and then discarded. Hopefully this move will mean that less birds will be dumped :D

If you got this far- thn thank you! I am so happy I wanna shout this from the rooftops!! lol