By Elizabeth Young | Founder & executive director
Dear Palomacy Supporters,
Thank you for being essential members of our small but powerful Palomacy team! Together we are saving the lives of pigeons and doves who would otherwise be killed. Your support for our groundbreaking work turns donations into rescue missions, bird healing, aviary building, humane education and adoptions! Together we are closing a deadly gap in the animal welfare community.
We saved the lives of 248 birds in 2017 and we helped many more, from all over the country and beyond, through our Facebook Help Group, online educational resources and 365-days-a-year coaching and referral network. Palomacy is the go-to resource for people who find the injured, lost, weak survivors of pigeon “sports”, “dove releases”, grounded feral pigeons... birds like Alfred & Pirate.
Alfred
At the tender age of only four weeks, baby King pigeon Alfred was “harvested” from her parents’ nest and trucked to a live poultry market in San Francisco where she was sold as meat (squab). Instead of being butchered when she was purchased, she was inhumanely “released” in a park in a misguided effort to save her. She sat there, still and scared. Domestic pigeons, though unable to survive in the wild, are highly intelligent. She knew she was in trouble, instinctively fearing the ravens, hawks, gulls and cats that prey on vulnerable birds. Alfred’s life was saved when she was taken to a shelter that serves birds through its partnership with Palomacy.
Pirate
Around this same time, fifty miles south in San Jose, a fledgling feral pigeon, also about four weeks old, was found injured and helpless. He had survived a predator attack but lost an eye and was grounded by head trauma. A Good Samaritan took him to a pigeon-friendly wildlife rescue hoping he could be saved. He had a big personality and they named him Pirate. His injuries made him unreleasable though and he needed a forever home or he’d be euthanized. He needed Palomacy’s help and so the staff reached out to us to save him.
Alfred and Pirate, after several months in Palomacy’s foster care, have both found their way home. Alfred was adopted first, instantly becoming the beloved bird child of Aria and Julie. They were head over heels for her before I even left their apartment that first night. She’s a pampered pigeon with all the best birdy accoutrements and her own Instagram account. And, when she was ready for a mate, we arranged a pHarmony date with the dashing bachelor Pirate. They had instant chemistry and soon their flirtation became courtship, then marriage, and then Aria and Julie adopted Pirate too. Home.
Palomacy relies on one employee (me) and nearly 100 volunteers to respond to the thousands of calls, emails and messages we receive seeking help for birds in trouble. We do outreach events, provide humane education, maintain a much-referenced website and publish inspiring blog posts and newsletters that are read by thousands. Our home-based fosters and compassionate supporters enable us to provide exceptional care, every day of the year, to the hundreds of injured, sick, and/or displaced pigeons and doves that no one else will help. (We don’t have a sanctuary yet, though we hope to someday.)
Together, we are truly making a life-saving, culture-changing difference. Thank you! Happy New Year!
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