Pet Channel

From a list of things that made this blogger happy in Beijing, the old men with pet birds.

1. seeing the old chinese men gathered on the sidewalk, sitting by their bikes, gossiping and showing off their pet birds. on my way to work. i don’t dig the pet birds. but the old men on the other hand, they are such characters each of them. especially ones that wear sunglasses from the 70s without knowing how cool they look in 2007.

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Read more from this blogger: 5 things that made me happy in Beijing during the past 7 days

An avian flu update for pet bird owners.

Your pet bird could contract the avian flu if it is exposed to another bird that’s carrying the virus. So it’s important to keep your bird and its food and water inside, away from any place where it could be exposed to infected migrating or domestic birds. That way your pet won’t be at risk for getting the bird flu.

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Read more from this blogger: Avian Flu

A safe approach to pet birds during the bird flu scare.

I have found items sold in pet stores which are guaranteed to kill the germs that cause bird flu according to their packaging. This makes sense as good hygiene, especially where pet birds are concerned, is paramount to good health for both you and your pets. Personally, there is no way in Hades that I'd risk going to a bird show or purchasing a bird at one at the present, thankyouverymuch. This strikes me as one of the worst moves one could make until this virus is eradicated, if that's possible.

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Read more from this blogger: Human Bird Flu Transmission suspected by WHO

Don't try this at home!

What often happens is that somebody gets the bright idea of breeding pet birds in their garage or basement thinking that all they need to do is provide nest boxes and the birds will just reproduce themselves on a little seed and water and bingo, they have a home based business to start raking in dough. From there things spiral out of control. If they have too many birds they can’t properly hand tame them so the birds essentially become feral. They are afraid of people and prefer their own kind. They flee from people’s hands and when caught, they react like any other frightened wild animal: they bite. So the birds don’t sell well as pets. Meanwhile, more of them hatch often leading to more crowded conditions and if the breeder isn’t dilligent about making sure that they get vet checks and vaccinations, psitticosis, giarda and other diseases can spread like wildfire through these improperly taken care of flocks. Apparently when the Humane Societies get these failed breeder flocks they euthanize the birds because they don’t have the time or money to house, feed vet check and tame all these poor creatures. A few bird shelters do this, including Sabra’s.

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Read more from this blogger: Life goes on

I didn't realize that the USDA's National Animal Identification System was for all animals.

This isn’t just farmers, people. This isn’t just small-scale homesteaders. This is the government requiring that ANYONE who owns an animal register it with the government. It’s not just livestock. It’s rabbits, pet birds, for cripe’s sake, it’s even FISH! If you have a flippin’ GOLDFISH, you’ll have to register with the government!

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Read more from this blogger: NOW do you realize how this affects everyone?

Birders Anonymous, anyone?

Here is her profile: I am 31 years old, work as a Space Shuttle electrical technician and live with my husband Andy, four small dogs and a parrot. I am interested in things like home improvement, tropical landscaping, new technology, and so on. Birds have always been a part of my life since having small pet birds as a child. I was a fanatic birdwatcher in high school and even traveled all the way to Costa Rica mainly to look at birds. My career path has followed “birds” as well: airplanes first, as an aircraft mechanic, and now space shuttles. The main bird in my life right now is Charley, an Eclectus Parrot who thinks I am his real mother.

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Read more from this blogger: For The Birds

A slow day for the bomb squad.

A ROBOT designed to disarm bombs was sent to rescue a pet bird from a Sydney block of flats crumbling because of a tunnel collapse.

If you blog about pets, you can submit your post to Blog Carnival with the submit button at the top of the left column.

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Read more from this blogger: # Daily Gadgets - Bomb robot comes to bird's rescue (The Scotsman)

The EU is concerned about avian flu that could be transmitted by the birds.

As North Korea is authorized to export only feathers and pet birds to the EU, the ban only applies to these products.

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Read more from this blogger: EU bans imports of feathers, pet birds from N. Korea over bird flu

I love this idea, but I'm not sure how it works across a large geography.

heh, www.birdhotline.com is a website devoted to reporting and finding lost pet birds. No, not dogs or cats, but _birds_, creatures which can fly away in any direction and travel large distances relatively quickly, and which do not have much individualism within a species.

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Read more from this blogger: Lost Budgie