November 28, 2013 Oil company shells out $25,000 for World Parrot Refuge

The following article appeared in the local newspaper on November 28th.

The World Parrot Refuge is getting $25,000 from the Shell Fueling Change program.

 

Under the program, Shell customers used codes from their receipts to vote  for their favourite environmental  projects on FuellingChange.com. More than 13 million votes were cast over six months.

 

The grant to the For The Love Of Parrots Refuge Society - World Parrot Refuge was among $1 million in program funding announced by Shell for 31 projects across Canada. Another $1 million will be awarded after the next six months of voting.

 

"This grant enables us to embark on a huge educational campaign," said World Parrot Refuge founder Wendy Huntbatch.

 

The World Parrot Refuge aims to provide a home for life for previously owned pet and  breeding parrots.

 

"These species breed and form flocks and become a serious problem to native birds and farm crops," Huntbatch said. "We hope to ensure that unwanted parrots do not become an invasive species."

 

For more, see: worldparrotrefuge.org.

 

 

The following is my letter to the editor in response to that article:

 

To the Editor;

 

I was absolutely delighted to hear that the World Parrot Refuge won $25,000 from Shell. These competitions are so very important for charitable organizations with little stable funding. With 800+ parrots to feed and otherwise care for, staff to pay, repairs and maintenance and day to day supplies to be purchased, that money won't last long. And as much as I want to see the World Parrot Refuge comply with the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) standards, I can certainly understand why it hasn't done so to date.

That having been said, to suggest that this community needs educating about flocks of parrots becoming a serious problem to native birds and farm crops, to the tune of $25,000, is vacuous. Personally, I would prefer that at least part of this windfall be used to implement one or more of the above mentioned standards, any one of which would improve the quality of life of these beautiful, intelligent birds.

Pat Phillips
Parksville

 

 

My letter wasn't printed.