An Animal Rescue
We found an injured pigeon at the park today. The poor little guy was running along the ground, unable to fly. Luckily he was near the picnic table where people scatter bread crumbs for the birds, so he was stranded in the middle of a smorgasboard.
We were there for Kelly's physical-therapy session, and I spent most of the hour glancing over at the bird and fretting about what we should do. (Deb would be so proud of me!) Once we got back to the house, I called Deb to get her advice, and she gave me the name of a friend of hers, Beth, who is a bird rehabilitator. She recommended that I call our vet first, and use Beth as a back-up. So I called our vet ... and they gave me the phone number for Deb's friend Beth. I tried calling Beth again and again but could never get a response.
I need to say here that I'm not particularly a bird person. I like going to the aviary, sure, but I've never had any burning desire to own a bird or to get involved with birds. Okay, I won't say never -- when I was nine or so, a friend and I found an abandoned baby bird, so we brought him home, made a home for him in a metal tub ... and he died the next day.
Back to my story: When I couldn't get in touch with anyone to help the pigeon, I took a box to the park so that I could put him in it. I put a pillowcase over him (like Beth's website told me to), and I gotta say, as soon as I picked him up and felt him in my hands, I felt all maternal and compassionate for him.
So I put the box in my basement, and started looking for more phone numbers. I finally found someone in my general vicinity ... and she referred me to Deb's friend Beth. Funny.
Finally, I got the number for the local animal rescue league, and we took the bird there. I felt kind of stupid asking if I could call later and find out what happened to our feathered friend. But it seems that's a common request, because she had a form with call-in information and our birdie's case number on it. (I'll be sure to keep you posted on his recovery.)
It seems like a lot of trouble for a pigeon, especially when we hit rush-hour traffic and spent an hour trying to get back to our house. But I'm glad I did it. It felt good to do something about it, instead of worrying but doing nothing. And Heather got to see us rescue an animal and do the right thing, so I'm glad we were able to set a good example for her. I want my kids to be compassionate towards all living creatures (except bugs), and all the talking in the world doesn't matter if I'm not leading by example. Plus Heather loves watching Go, Diego, Go,, which involves Diego and his sister Alicica rescuing animals. And now she got to be just like them, which she thought was pretty cool. She spent most of the evening telling J. what to do if you find an injured bird, and how you should leave it alone if it's a baby and just watch it to see if it's parents are nearby. She's quite the expert now.
We were there for Kelly's physical-therapy session, and I spent most of the hour glancing over at the bird and fretting about what we should do. (Deb would be so proud of me!) Once we got back to the house, I called Deb to get her advice, and she gave me the name of a friend of hers, Beth, who is a bird rehabilitator. She recommended that I call our vet first, and use Beth as a back-up. So I called our vet ... and they gave me the phone number for Deb's friend Beth. I tried calling Beth again and again but could never get a response.
I need to say here that I'm not particularly a bird person. I like going to the aviary, sure, but I've never had any burning desire to own a bird or to get involved with birds. Okay, I won't say never -- when I was nine or so, a friend and I found an abandoned baby bird, so we brought him home, made a home for him in a metal tub ... and he died the next day.
Back to my story: When I couldn't get in touch with anyone to help the pigeon, I took a box to the park so that I could put him in it. I put a pillowcase over him (like Beth's website told me to), and I gotta say, as soon as I picked him up and felt him in my hands, I felt all maternal and compassionate for him.
So I put the box in my basement, and started looking for more phone numbers. I finally found someone in my general vicinity ... and she referred me to Deb's friend Beth. Funny.
Finally, I got the number for the local animal rescue league, and we took the bird there. I felt kind of stupid asking if I could call later and find out what happened to our feathered friend. But it seems that's a common request, because she had a form with call-in information and our birdie's case number on it. (I'll be sure to keep you posted on his recovery.)
It seems like a lot of trouble for a pigeon, especially when we hit rush-hour traffic and spent an hour trying to get back to our house. But I'm glad I did it. It felt good to do something about it, instead of worrying but doing nothing. And Heather got to see us rescue an animal and do the right thing, so I'm glad we were able to set a good example for her. I want my kids to be compassionate towards all living creatures (except bugs), and all the talking in the world doesn't matter if I'm not leading by example. Plus Heather loves watching Go, Diego, Go,, which involves Diego and his sister Alicica rescuing animals. And now she got to be just like them, which she thought was pretty cool. She spent most of the evening telling J. what to do if you find an injured bird, and how you should leave it alone if it's a baby and just watch it to see if it's parents are nearby. She's quite the expert now.
posted by Lisa | 11:49 PM
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