Anyone who has checked out Craigslist lately, let alone the classified ads in your local paper, has noticed the ridiculously high sales costs masquerading as rehoming fees. Sometimes in the four digits! Or a new twist: The parrot is free, but the parrot's cage has to be purchased. Usually the justification for the high fees is that the parrot's owner wants to ensure that the parrot ends up in a responsible home, i.e., one that can afford the ridiculously high rehoming fee. More likely the parrot owner is simply trying to recoup the original cost of the parrot.
We have a suggestion for parrot owners wishing to rehome their parrots, for whatever reason, if they truly are concerned about the future welfare of their parrot. Go ahead and ask for a reasonable rehoming fee. But donate the fee to an avian veterinarian in the area where the parrot is relocated as a deposit for future veterinary assistance. If a parrot owner is truly concerned about the future welfare of their parrot, then they will want to ensure that the parrot has access to the veterinary assistance it will inevitably need. We believe this may be a simple way to help stop the cycle of frequently rehoming pet parrots, parrots that, according to studies reported by Mira Tweti in her new book Of Parrots and People, face relocating to new homes six or seven times just during the first ten years of their lives.
