PARROTS CAUGHT IN SNARE OF CRACK

Polly want crack? Or maybe marijuana, a beer or a daily dose of
cigarette smoke blown in her face?

All are familiar situations for Wendy Huntbatch, president of the
World Parrot Refuge in Coombs, where, among 800 rescued birds, are at
least a dozen parrots withdrawing from drugs, recovering from
exposure to smoke or healing after mistreatment by drug users and dealers.

"We have birds that were used as toys by drug addicts. Watching them
go through withdrawal is dreadful," Huntbatch said.

Parrots are a status symbol for many people, who have no idea how to
care for a noisy, demanding, long-lived bird, Huntbatch said. "They
put a parrot on their arm and they think they're a pirate," she said.

The backgrounds of many birds at the World Parrot Refuge are enough
to make their feathers fall out -- literally.

A derbyan parakeet, usually a vibrantly coloured bird, came in with
all colour sucked out of its feathers, a broken tail and a bad case
of the shakes.

"He would just vibrate. It was horrible," Huntbatch said.

But the parakeet is a success story. "We have given him vitamin shots
and he has done remarkably well. It took about three weeks before his
colour started coming back," Huntbatch said.

Others take much longer to recover or are beyond help.

An emaciated macaw, from a Toronto drug house, had lost all its
feathers by the time it arrived.

"I worked with him here every day and we managed to put some weight
on him, but we never could get far. He was too damaged and he passed
on," Huntbatch said sadly.

Parrots, snakes and pit bull puppies are the animals of choice for
many drug dealers and users, said Penny Stone, B.C. SPCA Victoria
branch manager.

"Those are the animals they are drawn to because it makes them feel
macho," she said. But caring for exotic animals takes a good deal of
knowledge, Stone said. "So those are the ones that suffer the most."

Birds are a specialized field and Huntbatch, who has free-flying
cages so the birds can flock, is doing a vital job, Stone said.

But money is running out and, with wild-caught birds still being
imported and owners continuing to breed, Huntbatch wonders what the
future holds.

"I have come to the understanding that we are enablers. As long as we
take away the unwanted, just like the garbage collector does, then
the providers will create more new ones to tickle the fancy of
buyers," she said.

Provincial gaming funding was cut off two years ago and the $400,000
annual budget has to be raised entirely from donations.

"We have managed to pay the staff this weekend, but after that, I
don't know how I am going to get through," she said.