Originally posted by DJFyrewolf36
It is sad but what about this?

My moms Cockatoo, Angus *he was POTD April 4th* was a wild caught bird. Mom adopted him from someone who was really trying to care for him but the ladys bigger cockatoo was beating him up. Some people say that Angus should be taken away from mom and put in a zoo to be closer to his "natural environment". The problem with that is when he was caught, he lost most of one foot and a toe off the other. He also has stomach problems and can only handle eating cirtan things. He has VERY special requirements, ones my mom provides to the fullest. Mom loves and cares for that bird, and while I KNOW she would never ever go out and purchace a wild caught animal, she will rescue ones like Angus and care for them. Angus is also very fond of her too. When mom leaves, even overnight, he stops eating. She can't vacation without him! In his case, being relocated to a zoo would probibly kill him. I know this isnt the only case of a wild animal becomeing wholly dependant on human companionship. I know that catching the guy wasn't right but I also know that he is very very well taken care of. Sigh, I guess this is a moral delima for me...sorry I ranted on so much.
The issue is not with your mom - she simply provided a home for an animal that needed rescuing from a bad situation.

The fault lies with the people that took the poor bird from it's natural, wild home in the first place, injuring him in the process. And, ultimately, those people wouldn't be catching wild birds and selling them for a profit if there was not market for them. So, ultimately, the fault lies with the people who originally bought the bird from the people that caught it.

If no one bought wild-caught birds, there would be no profit to be made by trapping them, and it would stop. Just like puppy mills - if everyone quit buying mill puppies, the mills would go out of business. Supply and demand - without demand for a product, the supply ceases. That is what we can all do to make things like this stop, and save innocent animals - do not create a market for them by buying wild-caught exotic animals or puppy-mill dogs.