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For Parrots Love 3R – Rehabilitation, Rehome, and Rescue is the non-profit arm of the dedicated exotic bird store KKS Birdee Biyou. In operation since Feb, 1, 2003, Birdee Biyou has always taken in many re-home parrots in any given year, performed rescues when needed, has also covered all medical (and much more) care costs while working to rehabilitate and find new homes for these birds. This is always been a part of what we have done, and the business has always assumed the expense for this, even while going deeper in debt.
In 2019, when called upon to assist the City of Casper, Wyoming, and Metro Animal Services with a hoarding rescue case, it was brought to our attention just how poorly “pet stores” can be viewed by those who have not actually visited our “store” or know us personally. In this age of social media, the case went nationwide in the bird world, Birdee Biyou and the City of Casper came under fire, and were berated for having a “pet store” assist, rather than a rescue. The people within city government who knew us and have worked with us in the past on less publicized cases were confident in our abilities and intentions. The treatment received by them and us was still not fair or warranted. In an attempt to make everyone happy, the birds from that case were then sent out of state, which also resulted in a barrage of criticism.
The staff of KKS-Birdee Biyou had, for several years, contemplated adding a non-profit arm to the business, mainly to help with the rising costs of rehomes' and rescues' care, as well as the increase in numbers as parrots become more easily obtained by people who have not been educated on their unique needs. The 2019 case provided the push we needed to start the process with a goal of having everything in place by July 2020, the anniversary of the Metro case.
With plans to make some major announcements during the KKS Birdee Biyou 17th anniversary celebration, paperwork started being filed. The day of our first Facebook post about our plans, we received a call that 16 rehome birds were being brought to us. (“Rehome” used in this case because these birds were not in peril. Their person became ill and needed to find new homes for his beloved and well-cared for birds.) Within two days, we received another call about what was certainly a “rescue” that took a week to complete 18 in-takes on. Shortly thereafter, 6 more rehomes from another home came to us. All that happened in January 2020, delaying the paperwork as we did the hands-on work of caring for 40 additional birds, some of which were in very serious peril when they came to us.
Just as we were getting back on track with time to do more paperwork, the Covid-19 pandemic hit and threw the world into a new course of operations. Our focus shifted to keeping the store open, our customers and employees safe, and our birds as happy as possible with them obviously sensing the world's fear. So as of right now, April 2020, no, we have not filed every piece of paper needed to say FPL3R is an IRS 501(c)(3) recognized organization. State paperwork has been filed and approved. The board of directors has been established. The Bylaws are in the works. We have tracked every donation, whether cash or goods, and every expense. We can show anyone who would like to see exactly what we have done, where the money has gone, and what bills are still out-standing – all completely separate from KKS Birdee Biyou and Birdie Britches (the toy-making business we also run, which some sales support the rescue specifically).
Moving forward, updates on rehomes and rescues will be posted on this page to help keep this part of our work separate from the other parts of daily operations. Updates on our paperwork filing and such will also be made on this page. Adoption announcements will be made on this page. We will be sharing previous posts over to this page to provide a history of our work.
We appreciate your continued support as we move forward.
What's in a name?
For Parrots Love 3R – Rehabilitation, Rehome, Rescue...what does that mean and why that name?
When coming up with the name for the non-profit organization, we wanted to avoid the use of “Wyoming” because our coverage area has always extended past the state's borders. We have taken in birds from outside of Wyoming, and on occasion, we have found the right home for a bird is in other states.
Having the word “parrot” in the name was important to us. We already get many calls, especially in the spring, from people wanting help with native birds. We are not qualified to do this. We also do not assist with “backyard fowl”. To help avoid confusion, we wanted “parrot” in our name rather than “avian” for these reasons.
It was also important to us to have a name unique to our operations. Many of the ideas we came up with were either already in use by other organizations, or had pages with those names. We are who we are, and while we work with many organizations and groups across the country, we are independently operated.
The order of the 3Rs – we could have put “rescue” first for attention. Or the order could have been the chronological order a rescue operation progresses in. However, we instead decided to put the order of our R's in order of what we actually do. The most time is spent rehabilitating the parrots in our program, whether that is medically, physically, emotionally or all of the above. Next, it is typical (although 2020 has been anything but typical so far) that most birds in the FPL3R program are rehomes. Most are not seized by officials, or brought to us near death, or from an abusive home. Typically, the adult bird we get in has been living at least a relatively healthy life but something has changed in the owner's world to require relinquishment, or the owner just did not understand the commitment needed to care for a parrot. Finally, we have done and will do rescues – operations that often require law enforcement involvement to help save the life of a bird who is in danger of serious health problems or even death if actions are not taken immediately.
We wanted to avoid the use of the word “sanctuary” as we currently are not a forever home for rehomes or rescues. Yes, we provide them a safe home until they are ready to find a forever home. Yes, we know this can take a long time in some cases. Yes, we know sometimes a private home setting is not what is right for a bird. But no, we do not have a sanctuary for a rehome or rescue bird to live forever. There are places we work with, who are designed to provide forever care, when that need arises. We are open and honest about what we do and don't do, and did not want the name of the organization to imply anything we are not.
What we do daily...
On any given day, approximately half of the available birds housed in the Birdee Biyou facility are rehomes/rescues. This will of course vary, but is an average. Those that are available have been determined to be healthy (to the best of our abilities) and have been evaluated socially (both toward people and other birds). We care for these birds the same way we care for babies and our personal birds. They receive high-quality foods, which includes some kind of “chop” daily, pellets and fortified seed mixes. They are set-up in appropriate cages with appropriate toys, often new. They get time out of their cages to interact with people and other birds as well as explore and exercise.
We do the best we can to ensure a parrot is healthy before allowing it to be adopted. For years we have used a testing laboratory known and respected nationwide for DNA testing as well as some contagions testing. We are very fortunate to have an excellent vet right here in Casper, Dr. Tangney Gray-Dockham at Altitude Veterinarian Hospital, who has avain training and experience. We are also clients of the avian certified vets at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. The length of quarantine and level of vetting we do will vary from bird to bird, depending on its previously living environment, physical condition, and test results.
How can you help?
KKS Birdee Biyou employees volunteer their time and we have other volunteers as well, but can always use more. Whether its spending a couple of hours helping clean cages, hauling cages when the need arises, or a host of other tasks, we can never have too many volunteers.
We work to keep costs as low as possible but providing medical needs, cage and toy needs, and daily feeding and general upkeep, does have a financial cost. As soon as we get all paperwork filed with the IRS, we will be able to provide donors with a tax deductible receipt for any donation. In the meantime, we can and do still accept cash donations for those who do not require a tax receipt. Cash donations can be made through PayPal and [email protected] – just let us know it's coming so we can route it correctly – or in person at the store at 236 S. Center St. Casper, WY 82601.
There is an open account at Altitude Veterinarian Hospital and donations can be made to that account by calling 307-234-7333 and indicating the donation is for the KKS Birdee Biyou rescue account. They will make sure it gets to the right account and we track each bird treated to ensure donated money is used only for rehomes and rescues. (We have the paperwork should anyone like to see it.) And please don't think any amount is too small. Every dollar really does make a difference.
Employees often volunteer time making items to sell with proceeds going to FLP3R. These things include chop, muffins, toys, etc. Watch for these offers and take advantage of them for your birds while also helping us.
Because there is no way to know when the next call will come, or how many birds with no cages or other supplies that call will involve, it is imperative we have resources at the ready. While we have a fairly good stockpile of cages and other such items, most are currently stored in various homes. We would love to have a secure storage facility to be able to have everything in one place, and the spare room to take advantage of sales when they happen. However, paying monthly rent on such a place is not something we can justify right now. Someone willing to take this on would be very helpful.
We always make great use of fresh and frozen veggies and fruit. Think of us if you have more in the garden than you can use, or just want to help by buying a little more than you will use. Whether one bag of oranges or 30 bags of mixed veggies, we have ample freezer and refrigerator space and many beaks that will be thankful.
But perhaps the most important thing any of us can do is make a true and solid commitment to continue to learn about parrots and the best ways to keep them happy and healthy in a world we brought them into. It is the least we can do for all they give to us. Thank you for your support!
