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PEARL Parrot Rescue is an all volunteer and foster based organization based out of Pittsburgh, PA. Due to our adoption requirements and volunteer limitations, we are only able to adopt out or assist with the rehoming of birds located within a reasonable distance from the City of Pittsburgh.
When submitting applications or other requests, please be patient and courteous of our volunteers' time. Thank you.
The mission of PEARL is to provide quality education to current and potential parrot or bird owners. Unwanted or found parrots are accepted at Parrot Education Adoption Rehoming League, and in turn, are adopted to qualified applicants. We also assist in home-to-home adoptions for non-parrot pet birds. We are a foster-based rescue, located in the Pittsburgh PA area.
If you have found an INJURED or ORPHANED wild bird, please contact the Humane Animal Rescue Wildlife Center at 412-345-7300 x500 or the PA Game Commission at 724-238-9523.
Federal laws prohibit you from having wild animals in your possession, even while temporarily caring for it with the intention of release.
To report animal cruelty in Allegheny County, please call the Humane Investigations Department at Animal Friends at 412-847-7000 x7066.
Parrots are not for everyone- their intelligence and beauty are major draws for many, but also contribute to their undoing. And often times many people see parrots as status symbols due to the price tag associated with particular species. At Parrot Education, Adoption, and Rehoming League we believe in the value of every bird that comes into our care. An integral part of our mission statement is the rehabilitation of companion parrots. As the guiding force of our organization, we take this responsibility extremely seriously. That is why PEARL as an organization focuses on quality over quantity. We do our upmost to take in as many birds as possible, but there are times when we can no longer provide the quality of care these birds deserve and thus have to close intake. As heart wrenching of a decision as this is, we believe that if we sacrifice the quality of care for quantity of birds- we no longer fulfill our mission as a rescue and become part of the problem. However we do not simply close our doors and leave the fate of birds in the balance. We offer a home to home adoption program, and our education program- another key facet of our mission- strives to break the cycle of bird acquisition and rehoming by providing potential bird owners quality education on what it takes to be a good bird parent. So while some may believe quantity above all, PEARL stands out as a refuge of quality care for parrots in need, and strives to ensure all bird owners are properly educated on aviculture to provide quality care for birds throughout Western Pennsylvania.
Why Adopt- The Plight of Captive Parrots
Parrots rank as the third most popular pet in the United States, with populations estimated to top 100 million birds by 2020; that’s a lot of birds! Prior to 1992, parrots found in captivity in the US were imported from their native countries. Birds were plucked from the nest and shipped hundreds and even thousands of miles away to wind up in our living rooms. This had a devastating impact on wild populations, which some species are still struggling to recover from to this day. In 1992 the importation of wild birds was made illegal with the passage of the Wild Bird Conservation Act. This was an important step to stop the hemorrhaging of native parrot populations around the world, but created a market for captive bred exotic birds here in the United States. Breeders here in the US hatch an estimated two to five million birds annually. Unfortunately for most of these birds, they will never find the stable, loving home they deserve. Approximately 85% of birds purchased are rehomed or abandoned within the first one to two years of ownership. These complex and intelligent creatures, who if allowed to live their normal lives in their native environments would live in a stable flock structure for their entire lives, are instead shuffled around from home to home, never knowing the companionship that they have evolved to need. The best-case scenario for these unwanted birds is to end up at a rescue or sanctuary. Unfortunately, many are left to languish in closets and basements in solitary confinement for the remainder of their days, neglected and left to die.
At PEARL our mission is to end this vicious cycle of bird acquisition and rehoming and to change the lives and future for the better for these incredible animals. Parrot Education, Adoption, & Rehoming League is committed to ensuring all our potential adoptive families are prepared for what it takes to properly care for a companion parrot. While parrots may be the third most popular pet in the United States there are still many misconceptions related to their care. They are not domesticated like cats and dogs and are effectively wild animals- only a few generations removed from their native lands. This means they require a different approach to training and overall care. Many items in our homes are lethal to birds, from nonstick cookware, cleaning and scented products, and aerosols. We want to make sure that the birds in our program are going to be adopted to homes that are dedicated to ensuring their safety and dedicated to their proper care. Ask anyone who has a parrot and they will tell you the same thing- all birds scream, bite, and make a mess. While this may not sound like a deal breaker, for many the reality is much different. Our love of birds runs deep, and we don’t like to constantly squawk about the negatives or challenges of bird ownership- but it’s important that our adopters are aware of the total picture.
Because of this, all our potential adopters are required to undergo our three-step adoption process. Since education is part of our name, we take this aspect of our mission very seriously. To adopt from us, you will need to take part in our Basic Bird Care and Advanced Bird Care classes. We highly recommended and encourage all adopters to take our Avian Nutrition Course as well. In these courses we present the whole picture of what its like to share your life with a parrot, from cage and diet expectations to home hazards and positive reinforcement training. By requiring these classes, we hope to break the cycle where birds end up in homes that are not prepared to take care of them, and are subsequently rehomed or neglected. We present our adopters with every bit of information we can find to help them make a well informed decision as to
whether a bird is right from them, and if so, which species of bird best fits their home. Some may see this as onerous, but we view it as essential. Both the birds and our adopters deserve such a thorough approach.
We hope that you will see our mission as valuable and help us realize our goal of
breaking the cycle of rehoming, and rescue and rehabilitate companion parrots
with us. By choosing to adopt you are making a direct impact on reducing the
number of unwanted captive birds in the US and helping us spread the word
about the plight of captive parrots. Together we can make a difference for these
amazingly intelligent animals, who through no fault of their own are often left to
languish unloved, unwanted, and unappreciated.