Thank You, Being Helped & Moving Forward

The deaths of the young king pigeons True & Nicky hit me hard. It seems like they should have lived and that we should have been able to save them. The vet bills they leave behind are also very challenging. Despite the generous support and discounted rate of avian veterinary clinic, For the Birds, care is costly and money is tight for everyone. And I have to wonder- with all the important causes out there, does it even make sense to be raising funds to save these birds? They were bred to be eaten. In the past year, I devoted the better part of my life (and way too much of my savings) to helping rescue a few more than 100 of them and that is how many are butchered and processed every two hours in a squab plant. Tigers and polar bears need to be protected. Rain forest needs to be saved. CA Prop 2 needs to pass. As much as I love king pigeons (and I've come to love them very much), I'm not sure that spending hundreds of dollars to try and save a sick one is the best use of resources. I can tell you that they want to live and that they cherish life.

In the past couple of days, I've received beautiful messages of support and encouragement and, I found out last night that MickaCoo has received a couple of generous donations towards the vet bills of True and Nicky. It is incredibly heartening and, while I'm still not sure what the answers are, I am really moved by the kindness of people on behalf of dead pigeons they never knew. Thank you to the Mickaboo and Pigeon Talk communities for helping.

If you'd like to donate, please visit MickaCoo.

On Saturday, I helped staff the Mickaboo table at the Marin Pet Fair for a couple of hours. That was a little overwhelming as well. There were dozens of rescue agencies and all are trying to save animals and there are so many that need saving. To be ready for it, I checked up on the king pigeons that came into SF ACC on 8/30 and found out that all ten were still there and that another one was sick. Great. I tossed and turned all that night trying to figure out what I was going to do and how I was going to handle this.

By morning I had found a little peace. I decided that I would go to SF ACC to get the sick one and to help the others. For the sick one, I decided that, even if I couldn't save it, I could provide it with hospice care and that it might benefit enough from the supportive care to survive and that if it didn't, it would die loved and comfortable. I've named this one Santino. She's (?) a young pigeon that, based on her coloring, looks to be half king pigeon and half feral red check. She has a wet cough and inflamed eyes which I am treating. She's got a very comfy set-up with three different kinds of food, a cozy basket, a heat lamp, a mirror plus a view out the window to my king pigeons as well as the neighborhood ferals. In 24 hours, her weight has gone up from 332 grams to 349. Based on her symptoms, I'd say she's not near as sick as Nicky was but I don't know if she'll survive. I'm not going to get my hopes up. I'm just going to give her the best care I can.

For the remaining nine, I'm redoubling my efforts to publicize them and help them find great homes. I brought them pigeon feed and grit (very different than the wild bird seed they're currently getting) and they pounced on that and ate it with relish.

If you've read this far, tell me your thoughts. I can't promise I'll take your advice or agree with your comments but I promise I want to know. I never planned on being a king pigeon rescuer and I really don't know what the hell I'm doing.