Memorandum submitted by Pat Marchand
I am extremely concerned by the quantity of
African greys being imported in the UK (mostly via Belgium). Most
of them do die within the first five years of their captivity,
but of course it is very difficult because there is no register
of wild birds being kept.
It would have been nice for the Defra to stop
this type of import. We do have enough African greys for breeders
to exchange them if they are frightened of in-breeding.
Also there is not enough control over the keeping
of animals by pets shops. I can recall seeing parrots being kept
on straight sunflower seeds (no fruit and no green being given
to them), as you probably know seeds do not contain any vitamins.
There is also a concern of birds being killed
by breeders if they are too small or not the "right colour",
this happens because there is no register! This also means the
rapid spread of disease, for example: a breeder has a bird showing
signs of not being too well, the breeder might sell this bird
to a person who might put the bird in an aviary with other birds,
this sick bird might survive but could spread the disease rapidly
. . . passing it on from one aviary to the next. Breeders rarely
visit vets they claim to have their own kits.
20 August 2004
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