By Cynthia Bardouka-Large | Co-Director
All birds deserve love, but there is something about a senior dove at the end of their life, after years spent trapped and alone in a tiny cage, or a frail elderly pigeon dumped on the street, that makes us drop everything and run to help. Palomacy donors understand this.
How could we do otherwise?
Palomacy is called on to help vulnerable birds throughout the year, and this has been a season of senior citizen birds in desperate circumstances. It's truly a blessing to give the gift of safety and love to birds in the autumn of their lives, when they have known only isolation and monotony.
Lionel and Braveheart
Lionel and Braveheart lived in tiny cages, stacked such that they could not even see each other, with little enrichment, for over twenty years. Palomacy was asked to help euthanize them when their owner could no longer care for them. Instead, Care Director Jill brought them home and introduced them to the feeling of sunshine on their feathers, the joy of bathing in fresh cool water, and the company of other doves. Even better, in less than a week, she found a kind and loving forever home for them, where they will live out their days in comfort.
Your donations have given Lionel and Braveheart a soft place to land, and each other - instead of euthanasia.
Goji Berry and Blue Spruce
Goji Berry and Blue Spruce were lucky to be found alive after their owner died. Once again we received two elderly doves who had spent their lives in cramped cages placed too far apart for any kind of interaction. Their sensitive social hearts deserve so much better, and they are now with super volunteer and dove-whisperer Liese Hunter.
Your donations have given Goji Berry and Blue Spruce a comfortable retirement rather than a sad, unknown end.
Zenith
Just as we were catching our breath, we got a call from Sacramento. A crew cleaning up a vacant house had found a dove in the backyard, in a falling-apart aviary with a caved-in roof. For several months, kind neighbors had been providing food and water to 20+ year old Zenith, the lone - and lonesome - survivor of his flock. Though he is currently skeptical of the lady dove he is rooming with, we suspect he will warm up to her - and to humans - with time and patience.
Your donations have given Zenith hope and a chance at fulfillment.
Rummy
Rummy, an elderly roller pigeon, was dumped outside a warehouse. He walked up to the first person he saw and allowed himself to be picked up. He struggles to eat independently and shows some neurological symptoms, requiring hospitalization, pain management, and extensive diagnostic veterinary care. He is sweet and stoic, and he certainly can't understand why he was discarded so cruelly. Rummy is safe now, and nourished, and valued.
Your donations have given solace to bewildered, discarded senior pigeon Rummy.
These stories are just a snapshot of what we have done with your help. In the past twelve months, we have taken in 160 lucky-to-be-alive birds. Many arrived with complicated illnesses and traumatic injuries, paying a heavy price for other people's indifference. These birds bring the number now in Palomacy's foster care to nearly 300.
With your help, their fortunes change, their health returns, and their futures are brighter!
Your support also allows us to run an emergency phone line, where volunteers assist an average of 10 to 15 callers a day from all over the country and beyond. Our Facebook group has grown to nearly 50K members and our team of moderators provides 24-hour-a-day expertise and encouragement to a global group of bird lovers.
We depend on your support for everything we do, and costs keep rising. We need to raise $30,000 by the end of December to continue rescuing these vulnerable, sweet, brave birds.
GivingTuesday is coming, so please save the date! Starting Monday, December 1st at 9 pm Pacific Standard Time (click here to find the local start time for your area!), we will have 36 hours to raise our fundraising goal for the year's end. GlobalGiving is offering $500,000 in bonus funds this year, and the more you give, the more we will receive. This is an excellent way to amplify your donation so that we can keep saying yes to these birds in need. Bookmark this page or watch our social media feeds for updates as GivingTuesday approaches!
And our 2026 Calendar is now available - these make wonderful holiday gifts and the proceeds support our life-saving work!
Thank you so much for helping us help them!
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