Exotic Bird Rescue of Oregon (EBR): COVID-19 Operation Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
This grant was used to help pay for medical expenses for Sheri, a Mollucan cockatoo brought in to EBR in February 2020 suffering from various health issues.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a multitude of challenges to EBR. We have seen a staggering increase in birds being relinquished over the past few months, but maintain a limited number of foster families that can care for these birds while they await adoption. On average, we hold steady by rescuing three birds and adopting out three birds each month, but this past month alone, EBR received relinquishment requests for 10 birds who need to be placed in foster families.
Because we cannot hold meet-and-greets and foster/adoption events, have had to cancel four important events this year, and because many people across Oregon are facing financial and health challenges that hinder them from caring for a bird at this time, we are also seeing a 60% decrease in adoptions alongside a 45% decrease in donations. This means that currently, EBR has many more parrots to care for, with fewer resources. This is compounded when the birds we care for arrive with medical issues.
The Petfinder Foundation's $250 grant helped alleviate some of the financial strain that avian medical expenses have caused us, and for that we are grateful. Specifically, the Petfinder Foundation's grant helped a Mollucan cockatoo experiencing several medical issues at once to experience a full recovery before being subsequently adopted to her new forever family.
How many pets did this grant help?
1
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Sheri is a Mollucan cockatoo brought in to EBR in February 2020. In the relinquishment request submitted for her, Sheri’s former owner let us know that she was living “on the roof,” which alarmed us as the weather outside was below freezing.
We visited her that same evening to make an assessment. Upon arrival, we discovered that she was located on a marijuana farm and was actually living on the roof of the processing facility. Sheri had a cage on the side where she would go for food, but she was otherwise allowed to fly and roam free at all times.
We determined that she should be brought into foster care immediately, which the owner agreed to. Sheri’s feet were incredibly swollen, which can be seen in the first photo. She was seen by a vet for an initial exam and to figure out the reason for her feet swelling, which the vet determined to be a dietary issue. Since then, the swelling has completely resolved.
Sheri had a potential adopter come visit her at the end of the summer. They fell in love with her and expressed their desire to begin the adoption process. However, a day later, Sheri started vomiting multiple times a day. We took her back to the vet to understand what was happening and why. Thanks to the Petfinder Foundation’s support, EBR was able to help her get the blood tests, x-rays, cytology, and a barium study needed to rule out potentially serious medical conditions like a blockage or tumors.
It was determined that she had ulcers and bacterial overgrowth in her crop, so Sheri was prescribed a round of medication. During her recovery, her potential adopter visited weekly to check up on her and continue bonding with her, still committed to adoption. Sheri has since fully recovered, and on August 26 she was officially adopted. Thank you, Petfinder Foundation, for making Sheri’s recovery possible so that she could move into her forever home!
