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Why
birdsafe.com?
What prompted
BirdSafe.com??? I'll tell you
my story. It's the story of
an unwanted bird. It's the
story of a man neglecting his
family and himself. It's the
story of how they came together and
started a new life.
Some
of you know Ms. Ralphie, who had
been passed around from owner to
owner, we really don't know how
many owners she's had or even how
old she is. Anyway, a friend
of ours who is a breeder who is
also a postman was on his mail
route one day and heard some
parrots inside a house as he was
delivering mail, and he inquired
about them. The people said,
"Do you want them?" Well,
Ms. Ralphie and her cage-mate,
Co-Co (Gold Cap Conure) had been
left with these people to bird-sit
and the owners never came back for
them.
In February of 1999 my wife,
Debbie, went to a local bird mart
and our breeder friend had Ms.
Ralphie, Co-Co, and Chico (Peach
Front) on the table for sale.
She fell in love with Chico, but we
already had seven birds -- or she
already had seven birds -- I
wasn't being much help with the
birds at the time at all.
I had been a professional
firefighter for 24 years, promoted
early, the youngest ever to be
promoted to captain in the
department's history, and was very
into my career, but it was a job
that kept me away from home 24
hours at a time several days a
week. My job "defined
me," gave me my ego boost for
many years. During the past
few years the job was no longer
that fun or rewarding anymore, I
wasn't with the "new
crowd" at work or into the
politics. At home, since I
wasn't home a lot, I wasn't much
help around the home with the birds,
and I was tired
all the time from work. On
top of all this, I had a sleep
disorder, nocturnal myoclonus, that
caused me to have
"seizures" at bedtime
(not the normal "spasms"
associated with rapid leg
movement), and since 1994, I had
been on two pretty heavy-duty
medications, the kind that they
give to paranoid schizophrenics
among other things. On top of
being a walking zombie, I got into some
addictive behaviors, and was
downright neglectful at times. I
even said "No more
birds."
In May of 1999, the day before Ms.
Ralphie and Chico were to go back
to the next bird mart (Co-Co had
sold at the previous mart and
Ralphie lost her cagemate), Debbie
went over to the breeder's house
and promptly brought home Ralphie,
Chico, and Muppet, a Dusky Conure
that they also wanted to
sell. So the three conures
came home!
Well, Ms. Ralphie and I have formed
such a special bond. She
needed me and I needed her.
The big turning point was one day
in August of 1999, I wasn't going
to work a lot, still on my
medications, and Debbie and I had
actually decided that I needed to
be out of the house for a
while. While I was in the
process of packing things and
taking them out to the car, Mrs.
Ralphie was watching me go by her
room and then go by the window of
her room down the front
sidewalk. One trip by her
room, this beautiful conure, who
had her wings clipped her whole
life, tried to fly after me.
She knew something was wrong and
she tried to come to me. It
was her first flight.
Fortunately, she was in her
"aviary" room with the
other conures. But that was
the beginning of "Conure
Man", the new me.
On January 2, 2000, I retired early
from the fire department, I've been
totally off my medications ever
since, my sleep disorder has
subsided, and Debbie and I are
doing better than ever.
Sure, I have lost the prestige of
being a big tough fire captain,
lost 60 percent of my income.
But I have a life now. A new
beginning. The love that
White-Eyed Conure has given me and
shown me. I have never felt
better. I owe Ralphie for saving my
marriage and probably my
life. I am forever indebted
and grateful to my wonderful wife,
Debbie, for standing by me and
bringing Ms. Ralphie into my life,
and for teaching me the wonderful
world of birds.
So
there you have it. I owe the
bird world, I owe Ms. Ralphie. If I
can just help ONE person achieve
this type of love and satisfaction
in life, or help ONE bird be saved
from some unnecessary hazards, it
will be worth it. But our
goal at Birdsafe.com is to save
them ALL.
Joe
Arbogast
Executive
Director, Birdsafe.com
Me
and Ms. Ralphie
Assisting
Birdsafe.com
How
can you help us in our efforts?
Currently Birdsafe.com, Inc. is an
organization dedicated to spreading
the safety and health message for
companion birds.
You
can help us by getting the word
out. The more visitors we
have to our site, the more
knowledge we spread, the more birds
we help. So spread the word,
have all your bird-loving friends
stop by and take a look and check
back regularly.
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