After watching a video on Twitter tonight, Jetsunma asked that we share some information with the sangha regarding laws called “Breed Specific Legislation” aka BSL. These are laws that ban particular dog breeds due to stereotypes about their aggression. Pit bulls are typically singled out in BSL, but the ASPCA explains:

“It is worth noting that in some areas, regulated breeds include not just American Pit Bull terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, English Bull Terriers and Rottweilers, but also a variety of other dogs, including American Bulldogs, Mastiffs, Dalmatians, Chow Chows, German Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, or any mix of these breeds—and dogs who simply resemble these breeds.”

If a “banned” dog winds up in a shelter in these areas for any reason, they are automatically euthanized, even if the dog is perfectly behaved and has no history of aggression. The goal of BSL is to eliminate the breed altogether.

BSL is occurring nationwide at state and local levels. A small number of states have restricted local municipalities from passing BSL but several of those laws are being challenged. This website indicates the state-by-state BSL laws and has more information about the laws.

Please take the time to read about BSL and watch this video. If you find online petitions, please share them via FaceBook and Twitter.

We cannot be silent or remain uninformed about BSL. The lives of these dogs depend on us taking action whenever possible.

Bird Bath

Christopher uses a misting system to give the flock a much-loved “bath.” This is a great tool to shower the flock with. Christopher says the rainforest parrots, the colorful birds, especially require showers. The Cockatoos, from the Australian continent, a dryer place, are usually not quite as exuberant during showers, but they still enjoy it.

Cockatoos require a lot more water, on them, though. They have quite a lot of dander, and it’s kind of waxy. Unless he continually sprays them, the water will just roll off. The flock will sometimes line up close to him as he sprays them, some hanging upside down, and spread and flap their wings so that the water will get to all their feathers. This gang really looks forward to and enjoys their bath days!

Birds:  Beethoven or Brahms?

Do birds like music? Sure they do! Should they listen to the same music Christopher does? Not!

“I wear ear plugs when I am inside doing this job, and I will listen to music,” says Christopher. He also will sometimes play classical music for the parrots. Christopher finds the music of Ludwig Van Beethoven a bit “bombastic.” He thinks the birds prefer Mozart and Handel, and maybe Vivaldi. Somewhat more soothing and calming music. Christopher says Beethoven’s music sometimes will get real quiet and kind of lull you, and then, BAM, he hits you.  That’s when the birds start calling out. Christopher wants something more on an even keel.

As for the kind of music Christopher prefers, “I guess that I would have to say by most people’s ears, it’s just horrible, ghastly stuff; really hard music. Stuff that most people don’t even want to hear.” Some groups he likes are Deftones, Faith No More; and Wu-Tang Clan. (Note to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: He does not subject the birds to that music.)

To be continued…

To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

Boss Bird’s First Steps

“Knowing that parrots are intensely hierarchical, I asserted myself as their singular alpha,” says Christopher. Translation: He was now the “bird in charge.” He enforced that by being the only person who went in their cages, being the person who fed them, and being present and in charge when there were visitors to the aviary. He took up as many duties of alpha bird as he could conceive of. That went a long way toward easing the parrots’ anxiety. Feather plucking and fighting decreased. Christopher presented a stable and dependable routine, the birds did not have to deal with a steady stream of different people.

Feeding the Flock

Using a mix of nuts, seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, Christopher tries to tailor each bird’s diet to its particular preference; all 36 of them. He carefully watches what each bird leaves behind in their food bowls, to see what they are not eating. “I try to explore what they like,” he says.

The birds eat nuts that are still in the shell. Christopher tried t

hem on shelled nuts and they had zero interest. He is not sure whether that is because they like to play a little and to crack open the nut with their beaks, or whether there is a deep-seated instinct that says a nut in the shell is good; no bugs have gotten in it. His Macaws would eat just nuts all day if he let them. The problem is that a diet of all nuts is an incomplete diet. He moderates the amount of nuts they get, and makes sure they eat other things such as sunflower and safflower seeds, as well as the other nutritious things that come in their seed mix.

Some of the smaller birds would prefer to just eat one type of seed only out of the mix. So he does not load up their bowls with that mix, requiring them to eat other things. He monitors closely the fresh produce he offers them, making sure not to put out something that they have no interest in eating. In the past, some volunteers would bring string beans for the birds. He said they had no interest in string beans. However, snap peas in the pod are one of their favorites. Yummy!

Another item that the parrots love is hot peppers; the hotter the better! The capsicum oil that makes hot peppers hot, does not bother the birds’ dry mouth in the least. They eat them up like they were strawberries. Cantaloupe is another big favorite. A common theme is seeds. Parrots in the wild are drawn to fruit for the seeds. Seeds are a cache of nutrition for them.

While the birds are out in the flight cage playing, Christopher is inside preparing their food. “Being the alpha, I am the one taking them outside and bringing them back in; kind of like leading them from one place to the next.” Sometimes Christopher will hide nuts in the birds’ cages. They will then have to forage in the pieces of tree trunks resembling fallen trees he has placed at the bottom of the cage. This is somewhat like what they do in the wild. Parrots also like to chew things. He can put a piece of tree trunk in a Cockatoo’s cage, and within a week they will have stripped off all the outer bark leaving only the hardwood part.

After the birds have eaten, Christopher spends time going through the seed bowls and sorting out what was eaten and what was not. Christopher says, “Because their diet is not cheap, and being a non-profit organization operating during a recession, we have to maximize every single dollar.”  To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

Entering the Parrot Path

Kunzang Palyul Choling is also home of the Garuda Aviary, a sanctuary for abused and abandoned parrots.  This is a very special place with a caretaker that truly lives his Buddhist vows to care for sentient beings.  This is the first in a series of posts about Rigzin, known fondly as the Parrot Man.  

Christopher “Rigdzin” Zeoli was first introduced to the wonderful and sometimes wacky world of exotic birds when his mother, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, founder of a Tibetan Buddhist Temple, got a Moluccan Cockatoo parrot named Tashi. Christopher was about 20 years old at the time and did not realize that he had just entered the Parrot Path.

Poor Tashi Bird had a problem ─ a big problem ─ she pulled out her own feathers; something parrots do when under stress. Tashi didn’t pull out just any feathers, either. She was pulling out what is called “blood feathers.” Yikes! Blood feathers are shafts full of blood, and when they are broken, they can bleed profusely and endanger the bird. In order to help Tashi, Jetsunma would restrain the bird while Christopher, using a pair of needle nose pliers, would pull the rest of the feather shaft out so that the bleeding would stop.

Christopher recalls that stressful initiation into the Parrot Path: “Now Moluccan Cockatoos are not small, they can exert enough power with their beaks to really mangle your finger. Tashi was screaming and screaming and shrieking at the top of her lungs. As I was helping Jetsunma with this every few days, I was thinking, “Boy, parrots are not for me. I’m just not into this whole parrot thing.” And who could blame him?

To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website. 

The story continues tomorrow….