Why do people hoard pets, and why birds?
In a Snopes article from 2017, a woman complains that a cooking bag for turkeys emitted fumes that killed nine of her birds. My first thought was, "Well don't put them in the bag, then!" but it turns out they died even though they were in another room. My second thought was, "what the fuck are you doing with nine birds in your house?" And these were just the ones that died, too.
I mean, I can see having a bird as a pet - maybe. They are noisy, messy, smelly, and their feces can spread diseases. I prefer to watch them at the bird feeder. I have no need to have one in my house. But, OK, a bird. I get it, you think it is a nice pet. About as friendly as a snake - and people keep them as pets, too. But when folks start keeping three, four, five - or a dozen? What is going on here?
Worse yet, are folks who claim to be barely getting by in life, but have exotic birds as pets. And old friend of mine from high school has a "go fund me" page for his and his wife's exotic illnesses. He is on disability and needs money. But if you call him on the phone, you'd hear the "squawk!" of exotic birds in the background.
Hmmmm.... I wonder if they are not in fact suffering from toxic plasmosis from all that bird shit? Could be, but the real point is, if you are that fucking poor, what are you doing with exotic pets? I mean, that is supposed to be a luxury, right?
And yet, the main market for exotic pets isn't in the upscale neighborhoods and mansions of the world, but rather in the lower-middle-class and poor neighborhoods. It is a white-trash hobby. There, I said it.
When I lived in Chittenango, a couple down the street had Macaws. They turned their garage into a Macaw cage, and you could hear them squawk on a warm summer night when they opened the garage door. They were living in a neighborhood of two-bedroom, one-bath 900 square-foot houses, and yet they thought having huge annoying birds that would live for decades was a priority in their lives.
I don't get it. And birds can be downright nasty. Some of these larger birds like parrots and whatnot will bite your finger off if you give them a chance - and they have beaks that are like bolt-cutters, too.
And let's not talk about the exotic diseases and expensive treatments they often need. And as the Snopes article above illustrates - you have to empty your house of all teflon cookware, air fresheners, and cleaning agents - as any of these are likely to kill your birds, as they are susceptible to the fumes. Hence the term, "miner's canary".
It is just madness, quite frankly. And that's not taking into account the moral aspect of it. People smuggle these birds in from third-world countries, often packed into PVC tubes for the journey. You are depleting the rainforest of its animals so you can have an accessory. It makes no freaking sense. And ditto for snakes, lizards, and other wild animals. And no, despite what the pet store owner said, they likely weren't born in captivity but were smuggled in.
Leave the wild animals in the wilderness! This goes double if you are struggling financially.
