By Dominic Abassi

Nanaimo location pivotal to adoption efforts after Parrot Refuge rescue

Sep 30, 2016 | 2:53 PM

NANAIMO — A simple gesture by the city of Nanaimo is being described as a “godsend” by the group that volunteered to rescue nearly 600 parrots from a facility in Coombs.

About 75 birds remain in the old SPCA building on Labieux Road after the city leased the empty facility – for $1 – to Delta-based Greyhaven Exotic Bird Sanctuary in June.

“It’s been amazing in terms of adoptions on the island, never mind the space itself,” says Jan Robson, Greyhaven’s education coordinator. “We’ve been able to have it kind of as adoption central for the birds that are going out to homes on the island.”

Robson says the numbers are significantly down at the Nanaimo location because adoptions have been quite active out of the building. She says they have three very dedicated volunteers working out of that building, visiting potential adoptive homes around the island and vetting applications. It’s quite unlikely they will have homes for all of the birds by the time the lease with the city terminates on December 1.

“We do have a couple of directors that are at this point checking with the city of Nanaimo if there would be any other empty buildings or something that we could use for the short haul to house birds that are remaining.”

modified weapon

Sawed-off shotgun seized after Nanaimo RCMP spot well-known offender

3h ago

rainbow eyes

Nanaimo judge hands old growth logging protestor additional jail time

5h ago

Paris Bound

Nanaimo race walker Olivia Lundman qualifies for Paris Olympic Games

7h ago

While Robson says about 120 birds in total have been adopted so far, Greyhaven still has about 350-400 parrots on their hands. The ones that aren’t at the Nanaimo location are spread out at several locations around the Lower Mainland. She does note there have been a lot of good news stories and they are receiving applications from across Canada.

Robson says the financial burden on their small society has been massive. Greyhaven took over operation of the World Parrot Refuge in Coombs earlier in the summer and ran the facility for almost three months leading up to an August 1 deadline set by the owner to have all of the birds cleared out. Greyhaven had to pay for staffing, food, transportation and cages. Robson says their small non-profit has invested about $180,000 to-date in the rescue.

“We’ve been stashing money away over the last 18 years or so to buy our own facility…that has probably been cut by third to a half at this point,” says Robson. “Dismaying in a way, but you look at these things and think everything happens for a reason.”

Robson says somebody had to step-up and help these birds. She says they have applied to the SPCA for some grant funding, noting they are likely facing $20,000 to $30,000 worth of costs per month moving forward. Despite facing high costs to house the hundreds of birds left on their hands, Robson says their society isn’t going anywhere.

“I just want to reassure all the people from the island that we’re emotionally invested in the birds…we are doing our absolute best to make sure they go to the best homes, that they get the best care in the meantime.”

===

To stay up to date with the efforts of Greyhaven, to donate or to adopt a bird, visit their Facebook page.