Words by Smiley Team
Across the country, more than 80 million homes have companion animals – those who live in people's homes and become part of their family.
A large majority of these are birds, but not all of them are cared for in the right way.
Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue in a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing companion birds (parrots and other commonly domesticated birds) who have been neglected, abused, injured or surrendered to them. They want to ensure the birds are in a safe and loving environment, as well as educate bird owners on the standards of care.
What makes this organization stand out is the volunteers who work tirelessly to make sure their birds are cared for and those who are interested in adopting are well educated on the process of taking care of one of these birds.
Robin Pugh, is a volunteer at the nonprofit and – in 2021 – won "volunteer of the year". She coordinates teams, leads the Home Visit volunteer team, and takes turns as host for their Virtual Adoption Fairs.
“I just love getting emails from people who’ve adopted telling us how the birds are doing and sharing pictures," she tells Smiley News. "There’s nothing like seeing a conure digging into a particularly messy piece of fruit… and knowing I don’t have to be the one to clean it up."
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Robin continues: “I do double duty, primarily running the Home Visit part of the application process and coordinating for the Conure team.
"Home visits are something I ended up doing almost accidentally - it’s a big, complicated part of the application process, and it requires a lot of organizing to make sure we have volunteers able to do visits all over Northern California."
The volunteers have a lot of responsibilities for bird intake, fostering, veterinary care, transport and logistics as well as their education efforts and other necessary tasks. Mickaboo also offers full training for those who are interested in adopting one of their birds.
DONATE: The most direct way to support Mickaboo is through financial donations. Find out more on the nonprofit's website.
BECOME A MICKABOO ANGEL: When you become a Mickaboo Angel, you are helping them fulfill their commitment to keeping our doors open to ill, injured, abused, neglected and unwanted companion birds in Northern California and beyond.
VOLUNTEER: The nonprofit is always on the lookout for more volunteers. Find out more.
