It was a flood of biblical proportions, and it was made of abused birds.
Days before Christmas, a Michigan animal shelter found itself inundated with hundreds of parakeets badly in need of help.
Detroit Animal Welfare Group reports that its Macomb County shelter was sent scrambling after an area resident surrendered 400 birds in deplorable condition last Thursday night.
“Yes, that’s correct, 400,” the shelter wrote on Facebook, the Detroit News reported. “We were in shock also but could not turn them away as they were all crammed in seven cages and smothering each other and needed immediate help.”
A team was rallied and rapidly assembled temporary shelter for the parakeets. Then, on Sunday — the day after Christmas — hundreds more parakeets were brought to the shelter, more than doubling the number in the rescue’s care to 836.
The bird deluge was born of a local animal hoarder who had been keeping the birds in a room of his home. While he’d been shelling out $1,200 a month to feed the animals, he was keeping them squashed together in cages, the Detroit Animal Welfare Group’s director, Kelley LaBonty, told the Detroit Free Press.
“His son said that he just wanted to breed a few of them, and it got out of control,” LaBonty told the publication. “The problem is birds breed easily. And then you just have more babies and more babies and more babies if you don’t control the situation.”
Although the son gave the shelter a ring to warn them he was bringing the birds by, he grossly misestimated how many there were and told the shelter he’d bring some 60 to 80 on the first drop off and at least 50 on the second.
Despite the odds, some of the parakeets appear to be healthy, but others are visibly unwell. “They haven’t seen a vet yet because obviously, it is Christmas, but definitely some of them are pretty sick,” said LaBonty.
The local group JoJo’s Flying Friends is now taking care of the birds, which are required to quarantine for 30 days before being adopted out beginning in late January.
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Original Article: Michigan shelter overrun after parakeet breeding orgy (nypost.com)