So I need to tell everyone whats going on. You have laughed with me, and cried with me, and I have always shared with you, the good, the bad, and the ugly, so Im not going to stop now. And forgive me, its going to be long. Yesterday a couple of volunteers and dear friends were over helping me clean cages and such. I had some of the birds out in the aviary, as I usually do on nice afternoons. My friends were in the driveway pressure washing cages, and I was inside cleaning, when one of them came in and told me animal control was here. No big deal, I have nothing to hide, my animals are well taken care of, but I knew this time it wasnt going to be good. The very sweet young officer (Myers) got out and started chatting with me, and said that someone had called in a noise complaint. That I had 4 dogs here and several birds, and she needed to come in and check everything out. Of course I said, Come on in!! I told her three of the dogs had already gone home, and explained I am a pet sitter, but she saw Harlee, the one dog still here that I am caring for, and loved her to death. She also was amazed at the birds, and was very impressed with everything. I told her I had been doing rescue / re-home for a long time, but had just recently received my non-profit status. She was elated that she now had someone to call when they had a bird turned in, or one was confiscated. Something I did not know that she told me was, if parrots are missing feathers, or mutilating, they are automatically euthanized. I had no idea. I also showed her the aviary....she loved it. I told her I usually took the birds out on nice days, around two in the afternoon for a couple of hours, then we went back in, had dinner and they were put to bed shortly after. I told her, sure they may squawk a few times, but for the most part just sunned, chewed wood, and preened. What she told me though is that my neighbor could cause real problems for me. What I did not realize is animal noise is different from people noise ( loud music, etc). I thought as long as it was before or after a certain time, it was not a big deal. Thats not the case as she showed me. She told me a dog could bark for one or two minutes and someone could complain, or a parrot scream once or twice and do the same. This is how the law is written: 12.010 - Keeping of animals that disturb the peace. A. It is unlawful for any person to keep any animal, dog, bird or fowl which, by causing frequent or loud continued noise, disturbs the comfort or repose of any person int the vicinity. B. Violation of this section shall be declared to be public nuisance which violation may be enjoined by any court of competent jurisdiction. I gave her my card, told her to call if I could ever be of any assistance, and she left. My friends and I finished our cleaning, but noticed my neighbor, (who by the way, never comes out of her house, and always has had the windows and blinds closed tight, for the eight years I have lived here) had her window open and was watching us. The birds were still in the aviary until I could finish up and get them in. Which I did within an hour. Well today, while I am working, I get another call from animal control that they are again at my home!! Another very nice young lady, who said she had spoken to Officer Meyer from yesterday and knew what was going on, but that a second complaint had been made yesterday afternoon!! My neighbor could not even give me an hour to clean up and get the birds inside yesterday??!!!! Seriously? I was already floored over everything that had transpired, but now I am really floored. Anyway, the officer said she had to come out because the call was made, and that if a third call was made, the person who complained had to reveal their name and number and also had the option to take me to court. ( although I already know who it is) So today I sat inside with my birds, on this beautiful warm sunny afternoon, because my neighbor who never comes out, or opens her blinds, has a problem with my birds being out for a couple of hours on pretty afternoons. I am devastated. To be honest, my emotions are all over the place and I feel quite lost. I cant stay here obviously, I wont let someone dictate how I and my birds and animals live. I love my house, I love my woods and all of my wild life, but I feel I have no choice. I had been planing on looking at ways to expand the rescue, get a facility, some land maybe out in the country to be able to grow with the number of calls we are receiving with parrots needing our help. But I wasnt prepared to be forced into it sooner than I am ready for. I wanted to have a plan in place, I wanted to raise funds and do it right. So there it is. I wont let this deter me, I will not give up, and I will continue to help those I can. Its a big bump in the road, but one I hope to cross, and maybe realize a year from now it was a blessing in disguise.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 01:34:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015