Help! Any wildlife rehabilitators?!

[Kasia]

When we first got him from your hubby, I said to myself, "Oh, well that doesn't look TOO bad" but when we got him home and actually looked at the wing, and inside his mouth (that's how you can tell they are anemic, very pale tongue), and the blood kept dripping, it broke my heart. He is at the vet's office this morning and I'm waiting to hear back, since Dr. Rich was in surgery when I dropped him off. I also had to tak a pigeon with a badly broken leg to him. The leg broke at the hip and is just hanging and there's just no way for me to splint it because it's so high up.

That's the hardest part of rehab work. Some animals you get and you just know that no matter what you do, it just won't be good enough. At times we have taken a bird or duck to Dr. Rich to have them put down, and he said he will examine, watch and wait and calls us a week later and tells us to come pick that bird or duck up because it's doing better. So there are miracles sometimes. I was really hoping this beautiful bird would be a miracle case but with necrosis setting in, the wing would have to be amputated and with being so anemic, he wouldn't survive such a drastic surgery.

And if we just patch him up and leave things the way they are, the bacteria in his blood will spread to his internal organs and shut them down one by one and he would die a very slow and painful death. So sometimes the best thing to do is end their suffering.

 

[BayouPoules]

Thanks Kasia for trying and for letting us know.

,.. we didn't even know where to start on a bird like that.
I am so glad that we saw him or the neighbors dogs would have torn him apart for sure,.. that's no way to end.
You have been great!

Is the pigeon a pet of yours or a rehab?

 

[Kasia]

Dr. Rich ended up having to put the egret down. He has lost a lot of blood and was severely dehydrated. He also said that I was right, he also was anemic. The blood work revealed that he already had bacteria in the blood and his white blood count was off the charts. But at least he's not in pain anymore.

Yvette, I wish I had better news.

The pigeon was brought to us last week, she couldn't walk due to her right let being badly broken at the hip. I tried to splint it but she went downhill and so I took her in to see what else could be done. Will and I were read to give her a forever home here with us. But we didn't realize just how bad her injury was. She has a HOLE in her and some bone was missing. Dr. Rich found a BB in her side that did this to her, she had a massive infection and also had to be put down. So it hasn't been a good day.

 

[BayouPoules]

It takes a special kind of person to deal with that sort of situation every day.
Many are blessed by your work.
Thanks so much.

Yvette

 

[Kittymomma]

It's nice to know that there are people like you out there.

 

[Kasia]

Thank you. I really wish we could have helped him. We will take in ANY bird, even the ones that most people consider "pests". Like European Starlings, we have 13 of them, they all talk and that was my very first bird. She is now 6 1/2 years old and my best friend. She loves being with me and is on my head as I type this. She is the one that started this passion I have for birds. Pigeons and sparrows are another "pest" bird. And now Muscovy ducks too. I believe that every living creature that God has created deserves a chance.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Kasia, thank you for helping the egret pass to the next world peacefully.

Always a hard part of rehabbing, no matter how many years you do it! I was worried about that egret's injuries just based off the first photos, when I heard all the additional things wrong with it after examination, I knew the prognosis wasn't going to be good at all. The type of break(s?) and location were bad enough as it is.

On another note, my wildlife rehab group never turns away non-natives either--none of us have the heart to do that! Even if it's wrong from a biological perspective, morally we just can't turn away any animal in need, no matter what species. I want another starling as a pet--I had one last year that I really liked, but unfortunately he passed away mysteriously while I was in Japan. I'm sure there will be plenty next season as always.

BayouPoules, thank you for taking the time to try and help this bird! You did the right thing, no doubt.

 

[Kasia]

The wildlife sanctuary where Will and I trained at also took in any animal, I was very happy to see that no animal was turned away or euthanized just because it was considered a pest.

I have a friend who had a little sparrow that she loved. The sparrow got sick and she took it to the vet and the vet confiscated it euthanized it saying that they are illegal to keep as pets. Most rehab centers will either put them down or feed them to their raptors.

I think vets need to do their research, my friend found out a little too late that sparrows are ok to have as pets.

My avian vet calls us whenever someone brings in Muscovy ducks or ducklings, sparrows, eropean starlings or pigeons. I asked him if he would put them down like other vets and rehab centers do and he said that his morals won't let him put a healthy bird down.

If you want another starling, I'll keep an eye out for you on Starling Talk. There are always birs up for adoption in different states and cities. Although baby season is over this year, some people can no longer keep their pet starlings.

Check out my starling videos.
Here is my Damar talking his head off

And here my starling Pom-Pom, she has wry neck, she snuggles right into my hand and closes her eyes

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Yes, my morals won't allow me to euthanize anything healthy as well. I could never, ever do that! None of my other rehabbers euthanize them either, we just can't. It's hard enough to euthanize birds that are dying or completely unreleasable anyway, much less healthy animals. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's sparrow, that's really sad!

House sparrows are fine to keep as pets (as you know), it was incredibly unfair that the vet did that!

Oh, you have Damar? How awesome, I've seen that video a few times on Youtube when I was researching starlings!

I love his chattering, it's amazing! Pom-Pom looks like such a sweetheart! Starlings are such neat birds. I do wish we could control the wild populations, but as pets and birds in general, they are awesome! I have a funny male starling in my yard who sits on top of the tree and mimics the hawks--probably so other hawks think it's another hawk's territory!

 

[Kasia]

Yep, Damar and his sister Dukot are my babies. They are also 6 1/2 years old. We got them in February 2006 from a lady who was pregnant and said if she didn't find them a new home, she was going to have them put down.

Will drove 11 hours round trip to go and get them.

A year and a half later, the woman we got them from sends me an email saying she got a puppy and how she can't believe people give away their pets just because they have a baby on the way. I felt like asking her has she forgotten that SHE was one of those people? Anyway, I'm glad I got them. I love them to pieces and they got me through a lot of stress and depression since it was right after hurricane Katrina and we lost our home. Will was living in New Orleans in a FEMA trailer and I was living in Meridian, MS in the house we inherited from his dad. It was hard. The kids, pets and I really missed him during the week. We would drive to New Orleans every other weekend and Will would drive up to Meridian on the other weekends.