“Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) was a known bird welfare defender. He frequented the markets of Florence (Italy), buying caged birds simply to let them go.”

 500 years later and Victorians are still caging birds.

Victorian Aviculturists are using birds (captive native and non-native birds) as breeding slaves and money-makers calling it a hobby.

The abuse and cruelty toward birds in Victoria, parallels the abuse in the Victorian Puppy Farm industry. There are bird mills everywhere!

Annually the Mornington Peninsula Aviculture Society (MPAS) and the Victorian Avicultural Council (VAC) holds bird sales where permits are issued by the Victorian state departments- Minister of Agriculture-  & Minister of Environment.

Victorian state governments allow the VAC to draft the bird welfare codes- the same people involved with MPAS and who ignore bird welfare all in the name of money! 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS CONFLICT OF INTEREST!!! $$$$$$$$$

Ex-Labor Minister Jaala Pulford signed in March 2017 an order to EXEMPT caged birds from the operation of the Domestic Animals Act.

This means that all birds can be sold at sales, including exotic birds. Is that unbelievable and unethical or what?

Why State and Federal Ministers are you allowing this abuse?

State ministers have allowed the Wildlife Act to be so flexible that anyone can buy/sell/trade/breed wild birds.

The VAC, bird breeders & sellers influence our state governments!

But why are our Victorian state government decision makers allowing bird breeders and sellers to treat birds with so much abuse and no empathy?

Why haven’t our Victorian state governments BANNED bird sales as we have constantly asked them to since at least 2015? Who is influencing their decision to abuse birds and ignore bird welfare?

The bird groups/breeders/sellers.

How can any compassionate, ethical and empathic person be influenced by greedy, money-making, non-compassionate people who enjoy controlling birds and using bird lives as a hobby?

PLUS! The bird mills don’t even follow their own code! They fail to abide by the Victorian Code of Practice for birds. The code that they have created is just there to ‘shut my mouth- and yours.’ But they have it all wrong as their code is not even close to protecting the mind and life of a bird.

The current Victorian Codes include:
• Buying a bird
• Your Birds Welfare Needs
• Owning a Bird

The details of the code are brief and not specific enough to tailor the needs of birds.

It is tragic that Victorian departments allow such abuse and breaches of the code of practice to occur constantly, to intelligent birds.
One day soon, Victorians will be wondering “how did we as voters and citizens allow such abuse to occur to intelligent companion birds and not put an immediate stop to it?”

So we want to stop this BIRD sale happening again in Melbourne May 2019!

In Victoria, there are thousands of abused and neglected birds being constantly sold, online (e.g. Facebook, individual websites, Buy a Bird, Gumtree (abusive backyard sales), PetsHQ, Trader tag,) at pet shops, markets, at bird sale events, and directly from bird groups and associations.

The birds are suffering at the hands of bird breeders/sellers and at the sales:

• Most of the birds are ill and physically and emotionally distressed.
• All birds are housed in small boxes/ cages which fit the bird exactly- many of the larger birds cannot walk comfortably or stretch their wings- even flying is never an option for any bird.
• There are bright lights and people hovering over the birds constantly- no privacy or quiet time for the birds.
• The boxes/cages are filthy and rusty. In most cases, bird food is placed under the bird's perch and on the ground, amongst the birds’ faeces.

Bird breeders and sellers proudly advertise their abusive bird photos in bird magazines sold throughout Australia and all over the internet. And birds in larger aviaries are kept as breeding-slaves and money making machines- and ‘pretty bird prizes’ for the owners to control emotionally and physically- there is a name for this personality trait……
In fact, in the bird magazines, even bird club members/breeders and veterinarians mention the abuse and lack of welfare of birds that exists at Victorian Bird sales.

Any professional Bird Behaviourist as myself, with constant life experience of living and interacting with birds, will confirm to you that treating birds in such a manner is unethical, unacceptable, and breaches basic bird welfare.

ALL Birds are intelligent emotionally as a human being- MOST often MORE empathic!

All Birds:

o  feel pain,

o  have deep sensitive emotions,

o  have deep intuition, dream and have nightmares,

o  have strong bird and human family values,  

o  require the freedom to choose their own partner,

o  require privacy, respect, love and care desperately. 

 Sound familiar? So do children, teenagers and adults!!

Bird breeders and sellers are not interested in bird behaviour as it conflicts with their poor or lack of positive bird care standards and conflicts with their sole motive: money-money-money and CONTROL, at any welfare cost to birds.

As a professional Bird Behaviourist, I am CONSTANTLY contacted by the general public of Australia, regarding bird welfare abuse cases. It is a serious problem in Victoria where most current codes of practice are flawed, not complied with and NOT monitored by DEDJTR and DELWP and where genuine and non-conflicting bird welfare regulations fail to exist.

I urge ALL the government decision makers to ban all Victorian and Australia wide bird sales and events! There should be a thorough government investigation into the abusive Avicultural industry. Birds are highly intelligent and highly sensitive- they should not be kept is small cages, not in closed door cages, not in bedrooms/ laundries/basements/garages/ kitchens/ and/or sold and traded as a commodity.

Shame on ALL the bird abusers!

Please take urgent action and sign this petition, to save birds from being abused and ban the above bird sale and all sales of birds in Victoria!

Thanking all our empathic supporters of birds!!

Paris Yves Read- Bird Behaviourist & Counsellor, Bird Welfare Rights Activist & Campaigner

Let Companion Birds Fly

Melbourne, Australia

Ph: 0413 530 419

email:  paris@letcompanionbirdsfly.com.au

National Bird Adoption- "Agapi's Sanctuary"

Crowdfunding- even $5 counts toward our self-funded passion for birds!!!!! Give Companion Birds A Voice

“I wish I can educate the public and decision makers more- I am inundated saving and caring for few of the thousands of abused or surrendered birds! Too many birds are suffering 24/7 because of the lack of bird welfare awareness.” Paris

 Birds & Slaves https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/1040660/Quallen_Thesis_Final.pdf;sequence=1