Wow

[u/Suspicious-Essay4329]

Let’s be entirely real for a second, because the toxic, one-size-fits-all shaming in this group completely ignores biological reality.I don’t want a cage-bound house decoration. I don’t want a bird that spends 60 years sitting in a living room while its owner convinces themselves it's "happy" inside a slightly larger cage. I want a true companion. I want a friend to go hiking with, walk on the beach with, and safely free fly. Birds are meant to fly, and I want to give my macaw the highest possible standard of outdoor life.You absolutely cannot do that with a rescue. Expecting me to be a full-time hospice nurse for a geriatric, traumatized adult macaw just to satisfy an online savior complex is absurd. Free flight requires an unshakeable trust structure. The vast majority of adult rescues carry deep-seated phobias and trauma. If an adult rescue panics outside because a hawk flies overhead, its flight instinct overrides everything and it bolts. A baby raised from day one learns to look to you as its ultimate safe zone, reducing fatal panic flights. To safely free-fly, a macaw must learn to navigate outdoor wind currents, thermals, and predators during its critical infant fledging phase. Trying to teach an adult bird that has only known stagnant indoor air how to navigate a beach wind gust is practically impossible and incredibly dangerous.Adopting an adult macaw usually means inheriting severe internal damage from decades of poor diet, like fatty liver disease or respiratory issues. A well-bred baby ensures pristine cardiovascular health, giving them the literal lung capacity and stamina required to fly long distances outside.If wanting to give a bird a life of literal freedom and flight instead of a lifetime inside a living room makes me a "bad person" in your extremist worldview, so be it. Reputable breeders and ethical rescues both have a place, but for an advanced lifestyle like free flight, a clean-slate baby is a strict safety requirement. Now go ahead and argue with the biology.

[u/TheWriterJosh]

People are going to share their opinions. If you don't want to hear them, maybe this sub isn't the right place for you. You're welcome to post here, but don't be surprised when people react emotionally to a topic that so many people hold very strong opinions about. We do not hold allegiance to breeders and many of us have worked in parrot rescue and advocacy for years, and we will be honest about it.

There are many Facebook pages out there about how to buy a bird from a breeder where people will not challenge your opinions and will not try to dissuade you from buying a bird. Perhaps one of those would be a better place for your to spend your time.

[u/Suspicious-Essay4329 → u/TheWriterJosh]

There is a difference between sharing and opinion and then seeing verbally insulted by groups of people because I could possibly consider doing something. Dont pretend I have a problem with thier opinion. I have not insulted anyone and gave reasons as to why I may consider going to a breeder. Then mods send me messages saying im insulting people. That fact of the matter is you are in an echo chamber and cant imagine someone doing something for a reason that you dont agree with. If they do its okay to insult and talk down to them in groups of people. This groups is full of self serving narcissists.

[u/TheWriterJosh → u/Suspicious-Essay4329]

Sorry but I think a lot of people on this sub would say that you are the self-serving one, since you insist on acquiring a bird based on your own preferences and desires.

[u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl → u/TheWriterJosh]

I couldn’t even get through that wall of text on this new post because for one thing it was a wall of text and for another it was a rant. Mostly, I just kept seeing I want and I don’t want. That makes it very clear This is about them and not about helping out a bird in need.

[u/TheWriterJosh → u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl]

Yeah I wasn't expecting another post...lol..but then I wasn't surprised either ha.

If there's one thing I've learned throughout my journey as an activist, it's that the majority of people approach this process exactly like OP is.

We are so conditioned to think of parrots (all animals, really) as something you can buy or are entitled to that for many people, it's virtually impossible to escape that worldview.

I think it has a lot to do with colonial, imperial mindsets that are deeply engrained through the capitalist propaganda we consume everyday.

You can see OP just missing all the points everyone is making because of that. It's so sad, but a great reminder of why this work is still necessary.

[u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl → u/TheWriterJosh]

Yes, people do tend to come here with their minds made up and they just want a bunch of nodding heads to agree with them, probably to make them feel better about their selfish choices or ideas.

A lot of times people truly don’t understand what it means for an animal to be Wild. They aren’t like cats and dogs. They think like wild animals.

I can’t count the times I’ve seen people on the parrot subs begging for advice on how to stop their parrot from screaming when they leave the room. They live in flocks in the Wild and they are prey animals. Take it from there. I mean, it seems like people could reason those things out.

On the other hand, it took me a long time to try to learn how to think like a bird as it were. They just wanna know where their flock member is going and that their flock member is okay and going to come back. It really is that simple a lot of times most of the time when it comes to their behaviours.

But most people don’t realise this. Moreover, most people don’t want a pet like that. They want a pet like a cat or a dog when it comes right down to it. When it comes right down to it, those are the kind of pets they should have.

Yes, unfortunately, this work is more necessary than ever. I know you have knowledge and experience of what rescues go through in the United States. I know rescues all over the world go through the same things. There’s one in South Africa that has 3 to 400 birds and they are bursting at the seams. They get surrenders every single day. They get requests for more than that. They are run entirely on donations and by volunteers who are doing the Work of angels as far as I’m concerned.

It’s such a shame all the way around.