Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Jan. 17/2018

Feature:
Piou-Piou the parrot returned home after a night out in N.D.G.

     “When Piou-Piou the parrot flew the coop on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Notre-Dame-de-Grace, his owner was certain he had lost his beloved pet forever.

     ‘I was putting some sheets on the cord, & I forgot to close the door,’ said Claude Cadieux...who has had the 19 year-old white-capped pionus for about 7 years. ‘Suddenly, I turned my head, & I saw the bird flying away.’

     ...More than 24 hours later...the parrot touched down 6 blocks away, landing on a 5th floor penthouse terrace where Tania McIntosh was having dinner with her in-laws at their home. McIntosh...has long worked in veterinarian offices & she volunteers for the SPCA...

     'He was very, very happy to be picked up by people,’ McIntosh recounted. 'He acually ran toward us. I picked him up, brought him straight into the kitchen, shut all the doors so he wouldn’t fly awaty & gave him some dinner. He had some blueberries, some grapes, some cashews...

     Once Piou-Piou had eagerly eaten his fill, he tucked himself into a tiny nook above the fridge & promptly went to sleep. That’s when McIntosh launched a search for the owner...

     ...she contacted rescue organizations & nearby vet offices while posting a photo to Facebook...

     McIntosh put her name down as a potential foster parent, planning to buy the  necessary equipment to house the bird until a solution was found, but little did she know, her social media post would eventually land in the right person’s news feed.

     The friend who originally gifted Piou-Piou to Cadieux saw the post...&, from there, it wasn’t long before the adventuring parrot was returned home.

     'I’m really happy to have him back,’ Cadieux said. 'It’s like a miracle.’

     ...SPCA spokesperson Anita Kapuscinska said pet birds are returned more often than people think they tend to seek out humans when they are hungry...

     If a pet is lost or found, Kapuscinska encourages people to contact the SPCA. The SPCA, she said, will provide advice & support. There are teams of volunteers & staff standing by ready to help.

     Of the found pets that are physically brought to the SPCA, more than 500 are returned to their homes every year...

     'If you lost your bird, don’t lose hope,’ Kapuscinska concluded. 'A lot of people get reunited with their lost pets, & parrots are definitely no exception.’

Isaac Olson
in The Gazette, Montreal
Aug. 21/2017

Cute Critter Pic
Weekly Chuckle

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