By Elizabeth Young | Founder, Executive Director
In just the past month, we've taken in four pigeons requiring extensive avian veterinary care, expensive even after our generous rescue discounts. Are we crazy? It feels crazy when we don't have the funds to say yes nor the option to say no.
Doc
Doc is a very tough and lucky King pigeon. She survived the squab business and then endured the hardships of an inhumane release. On May 29th, emaciated with a broken wing, broken & crushed foot, a head wound, trichamoniasis, roundworms & chlamydia, she self-rescued by parking herself on the steps of the SF Police Department's Department Operation Center (DOC). Her new friends, knowing she would be euthanized if taken to the shelter, reached out to Palomacy for help and, even though we're already over capacity, I picked her up that same day. Because what else could we do? They named her Doc. Since then, she's been hospitalized and discharged twice and is still on meds. The crushed foot cost her circulation and she's losing three of the four toes on that foot but we're hopeful she'll have a good sturdy partial foot left with which to walk. She's a beautiful, brave bird- alive and safe.
Glory
On June 4th, a nice person, Jennie, found a tiny, big-eyed, splayed-leg & curled-foot feral nestling pigeon sitting stranded on a busy Oakland sidewalk. She couldn't leave her there so brought her home and began searching for help. WildCare lovingly rehabs and releases hundreds of feral pigeons every year but, for her, unable to stand or walk, euthanasia would be the outcome more likely than release. And though she'd make a wonderful pet, Jennie couldn't keep her. So, when she found her way to Palomacy, over full as we were, I knew that we were her only hope. Unlike most pigeon kids who are so disarmingly trusting, she was wild and suspicious of us. Defiant. I named her Glory. Her strong spirit has served her well. Dr. Speer was impressed with her tough attitude and with the full 120 degree rotation of her leg that, even so, folded with joints lined up perfectly, ideal for corrective surgery. The derotational osteotomy meant her leg would be surgically broken, rotated into proper alignment with a stainless steel pin inserted into the bone shaft lengthwise to provide stability while healing. Her newly arranged feet would be taped to a snowboard-style fixator to position both legs correctly. It's not an easy recovery and we needed little Glory's trust and cooperation to make it work. So I took her back home with me for a week to try and win her over. It worked! Her surgery and recovery have gone well. Her legs are still wonky but, with the help of a hobble, she can now stand, walk and fly. Glory is thriving, loving and happy with a bright future ahead of her.
Winter
Beautiful Fantail-lite pigeon Winter was rescued from a creek (and beside an egret!) five years ago by hikers who saw his predicament. His new family loved him, built him a beautiful aviary and adopted a mate for him and another when he was widowed. Unfortunately, cicumstances conspired against him and, due to family and financial issues, he needed both a new home and extensive surgery to remove several bunches of tumors from all around his jaw, from above his eyes and from both wings. We didn't have the funds to cover the costs but we also didn't have any other options. Without Palomacy, he'd be euthanized and Winter is too full of joy, life and love. He is nowhere near ready to give up. So we can't either. Our avian vets at Medical Center for Birds do everything they can to cut costs for us while still taking incredible care of our rescued birds. Since being surrendered to our care on June 11th, he's had two surgeries. The first removed the large tumors clustered like grapes all around the underside of his face and beak. Removing those made him more comfortable while also giving us tissue for the lab tests. It came back as cancerous- sarcoma. He handled the surgery and recovery so well, is so full of hope and high spirits, that I said, Yes, to the second surgery* to remove the other tumors above his eyes and on his wings. (*It was too much to safely do all in one surgery.) Winter is doing great and flirting madly with his fellow bird room patient Doc. Seeing him strut and prance and coo and woo, it is only too clear that if saving his life is crazy, then we don't want to be sane.
Marshamallow
On Friday June 29th, a kind family was trying to rescue a pair of abandoned cats when they happened on a helpless pigeon, a 4 month old pigeon racing survivor emaciated and helpless with a broken wing and a badly broken leg that may require surgery and pinning if it is to heal functionally. They took her to Lindsay Wildlife Rescue but since they don't serve pigeons, they were referred to Palomacy. The family called and, since they couldn't care for her and we didn't have any alternatives to suggest, I said yes to helping her. They named her Marshmallow and transported her straight to the vets where she is currently hospitalized. Marshmallow is a sweet, gentle pigeon child who wants to live. Is that crazy?
"Sanity is a madness put to good uses." George Santayana
Thank you for helping us to save the lives of these incredible birds.
Links:
By Elizabeth Young | Founder & executive director
By Elizabeth Young | Founder & executive director
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
