so what’s your favorite animal is it’s a
good question I have to say the wolf
because I lived with Wolves for many
years and they’re very near and dear to
my heart but um I love all animals let’s
be honest
you lived with wolves yes I lived at a
wolf sanctuary in Colorado called
mission wolf it is a sanctuary for
abandoned companion wolves that were
once someone’s family pet and wolves are
a wild animal as we know and they can be
really challenging companions so they
need a sanctuary and that’s where I was
how many wolves were there was it like a
pack of them were there many packs there
was 37 wolves and we had a series of
different enclosures we had 200 acres
and we had the whole property separated
into smaller enclosures we did have one
pack of five but the rest were in pair
bonds of – Wow so you lived with animals
so you’re you’re really you love animals
you’re you’re hardcore I do I love all
animals in them so so have you seen the
movie The Devil Wears Prada product so
when people wear high fashion or they
like kind of acting like peacocks or or
different kind of animals in the wild I
mean in a way it’s it’s its expression
and you know I faction as art and
fashion is beautiful and and animals
have their own way to express themselves
and I mean I work with parents now and
it they’re an extremely expressive
animal and they have beautiful plumage
and beautiful feathers and I mean it’s
their form of fashion so the reason I
ask that before we get to what you do
now I know you spent some time in the
fashion world in New York yes and and
you kind of lived the life of some of
the characters in The Devil Wears Prada
is that right sort of I mean my boss was
really lovely but yes I used to work for
a fashion designer and basically when I
got tired of dresses I decided to leave
New York City
move and live in a teepee in Colorado
and live amongst wolves
it was my sort of Eat Pray Love them and
I think for a newspaper you go to wolf
sanctuary exactly yeah okay so so now
you work with about 400 parakeets is
that right
parents parents yes 400 pair what’s the
difference between a parent and a
parakeet parakeet is a type of parent
okay okay great so you work with 400 of
them and you believe something very
strongly about them yes what is it that
that you believe and then I’m gonna ask
you what are you doing about it but what
do you believe about parrots that
everyone that you want to stand on every
mountaintop and just shout out you know
something what would that the world
doesn’t know there’s a big idea that
you’re passionate about what is it that
you believe the crux of what I do and
why I do what I do is to bring awareness
of the plight of parrots in captivity
parrots are a wild animal they’re not
domesticated they’re not a cat or a dog
and we are bringing parrots into our
home and we are forcing them into a life
of captivity which is so contrary to the
way that a parrot was developed
evolution gave them all the skills to be
wonderful wild animals to fly to forge
so it’s a fight to chew to para bond
have these really dynamic lives in the
wild and what we’ve done is brought them
into our homes and the reality that the
parrot has sacrificed an incredible
amount to be in our homes with us so
what I’m trying to do is start a
conversation with people about let’s not
bring wild animals into our home let’s
not try to take a wild animal make it a
pet because it’s the animal that really
loses a life of autonomy and freedom so
my philosophy is that parrots should not
be pets so of the top 10 pets you know
in the US I’m sure dog and cat are
pretty high up ferrets are probably not
very high where the know nothing against
ferrets but yeah okay and sloths are
probably not very high where is the
parrot so you’ve got cats number one
dogs number two number one above dogs
yeah and then you have fish technically
number three and then you
parents so parrots are one of the most
popular companion animals but they’re
not a companion animal they’re a wild
animal
they’re wild animal in captivity so how
did you come to this conclusion that
parents should not be caged like was it
did you read a book did you see it in a
movie did it come to you in a vision
when you were with the wolves like like
what what turned you onto this it’s been
an evolution I think for me when I was
working with wolves and I understood the
experience of these wolves were having
in in people’s homes and how they were
losing their homes and they were being
euthanized simply because we wanted to
sort of tame the wild and put into our
living room the parrot issue is no
different
parrots are extremely intelligent they
are social they have just these dynamic
personalities and this immense capacity
for understanding and experience and I
started to realize that we have taken
this flighted animal and we’ve put it in
the cage in our living room and it’s
like if you think about one of nature’s
greatest gifts it can give you it’s the
gift of flight I mean like ask a kid
what superhuman power would you want you
probably get a lot of kids that say
flight and parents have that that it’s
so intrinsic to their like very core it
is what makes a parrot a parent and we
have sort of taken that right away from
them because we want that companionship
we want that proximity what was the
moment that you were like I need to know
what was the moment that you realized
that something needed to be done on this
and that you were going to be the person
you know that was going to help help
here I am i watch a documentary called
parrot confidential about an
organization called foster parents which
is actually where I now work and it was
my first time really appreciating how
much parrots have sacrificed and how
much I didn’t even preciate that you
know we have a wild animal persisting in
our homes and we don’t think twice about
it and that I didn’t think twice about
the fact that when you stick a flighted
animal in a cage you I mean it’s the
saddest thing I mean it’s just
heartbreaking and when you get a dog you
can take him to a dog park and they
do you think the people would you be
satisfied with the compromise if people
took their parent to like a parrot park
and kind of you know flew around or that
that’s that that’s not so some people do
some people do free flight their parrots
it comes with risks but the reality is
that even a park free flying your parrot
it’s not going to mimic or even closely
resemble a fifty square mile habitat
flying over the Amazon rainforest and
you know eating mangoes up a tree and
eating you know that they eat a nuts and
fruits and I mean nothing we can offer a
parrot will ever come close to what
their life is like in the wild so these
parents that what what activities do
they exhibit to show that they don’t
want to be captive like are they sending
us any signals like do they have like a
nervous twitch with an eye like are they
doing anything that would just be
screaming at us we are not good you know
species Coco living with them is there
any signs that we’ve seen there’s a lot
of there’s a lot of science I know so
the most I always this is always the
tough part of the conversation I have
it’s sort of the saddest part of the
conversation I have when I talk about
parents parents engage in in self-harm
and self-mutilation as a result of
captivity and they will actually they
pluck out their feathers they destroy
their feathers they will go so far as to
go in to their skin and into their their
chest bone and we have parents that do
that and the day you see a parent who
has attempted to kill itself because the
state in which it’s being kept is so
inappropriate and so contrary to its its
nature to the thing that makes it want
to live captivity has taken that away
and these parrots are hurting themselves
and we don’t see this in the wild and we
can’t turn away from that proof I mean
they can’t speak to us and say I’m
unhappy this isn’t working for me
what they’re
as they’re pulling their feathers out
they’re hurting themselves and it let me
ask you this and I bet you some people
are wondering about this themselves so
you know we were in the back and you see
the cage where Abby and Michelle are how
does that make you feel you’re sitting
in in a exhibit which is you know not
too different than these things that
you’re rallying against is there some
irony here and and you you know this is
a video that many will see do you want
to say anything about the fact that
you’re in you know an enclosed space
yeah to raise awareness because you seem
pretty passionate about this I am
extremely passionate about it and I’ve
been lucky enough to go and work in
places like Costa Rica and Guyana and
I’ve been able to see parrots free and
there’s nothing more beautiful than
watching a parrot fly free and to fly in
a flock with its family and I’ll never
let that go it’s like this is a
beautiful exhibit this is a beautiful
zoo in in but no matter what my very
core will always tell me there is no
cage big enough for a parrot
there is no cage big enough for a
flighted animal and it’s not to say that
we’ll ever have a world where animals
won’t be living in cages and I know
that’s you know there circumstances were
we have to I get it but I always want to
be pushing forward this idea that we
need to challenge the way we look at
animals and what we think is acceptable
for an animal’s existence and what is
there right as an individual you know I
know that animal rights people get
really sensitive about that terminology
and this idea but it’s the idea that
this is an animal that has a right to
autonomy and freedom and just like we
have that and I want to start that that
conversation have that dialogue as
uncomfortable as it is as hypocritical
as it can be I get you know it’s it has
to happen so my last question where is
this dialogue like has this gone
mainstream is this just kind of fringe
and and the people who are speaking this
up you know aren’t being heard like at
what point is this idea
it’s this idea is it’s it’s getting
strength it’s growing its evolving each
animals getting its own platform cats
and dogs are getting a platform horses
and farm animals are getting platforms
you know greyhounds are getting a
platform parrots we’re a little farther
behind for some reason we’re about ten
years behind and really getting involved
in the animal welfare conversation and
it’s an uncomfortable one it’s new it
challenges a lot of our ideas on what is
a wild animal versus tamed animal what
is domesticated versus not what is our
right to ownership our you know so it
taps into all these these issues and I
want to open that dialogue I invite
people to come to my sanctuary we have a
sanctuary in Hope Valley Rhode Island
and please check out our website and
come I will give you a tour I will
introduce you to our Birds I will tell
you their stories and we can start the
dialogue there and we can work towards a
better future for people and animals to
I had a cockatiel growing up so you feel
like you think I was as a child probably
not the best caregiver for a parrot it
was probably not an appropriate pet for
me to have and I think there is a bit of
me that does feel that I need to do
right by Monet which was his name and
honor the parrots that need help and
need a voice and need us to advocate for
them because the realities of parrots
are languishing in small cages and
people’s basements and they are getting
sick and they are dying young and they
are unhappy and this is a result of
captivity and this as a result of humans
doing this and so if we have the power
to change it we have the power to stop
this we have the power to to do better
and make better choices for these
animals
well danique here her raw roar thank you
for sharing your idea from our stage you
good question I have to say the wolf
because I lived with Wolves for many
years and they’re very near and dear to
my heart but um I love all animals let’s
be honest
you lived with wolves yes I lived at a
wolf sanctuary in Colorado called
mission wolf it is a sanctuary for
abandoned companion wolves that were
once someone’s family pet and wolves are
a wild animal as we know and they can be
really challenging companions so they
need a sanctuary and that’s where I was
how many wolves were there was it like a
pack of them were there many packs there
was 37 wolves and we had a series of
different enclosures we had 200 acres
and we had the whole property separated
into smaller enclosures we did have one
pack of five but the rest were in pair
bonds of – Wow so you lived with animals
so you’re you’re really you love animals
you’re you’re hardcore I do I love all
animals in them so so have you seen the
movie The Devil Wears Prada product so
when people wear high fashion or they
like kind of acting like peacocks or or
different kind of animals in the wild I
mean in a way it’s it’s its expression
and you know I faction as art and
fashion is beautiful and and animals
have their own way to express themselves
and I mean I work with parents now and
it they’re an extremely expressive
animal and they have beautiful plumage
and beautiful feathers and I mean it’s
their form of fashion so the reason I
ask that before we get to what you do
now I know you spent some time in the
fashion world in New York yes and and
you kind of lived the life of some of
the characters in The Devil Wears Prada
is that right sort of I mean my boss was
really lovely but yes I used to work for
a fashion designer and basically when I
got tired of dresses I decided to leave
New York City
move and live in a teepee in Colorado
and live amongst wolves
it was my sort of Eat Pray Love them and
I think for a newspaper you go to wolf
sanctuary exactly yeah okay so so now
you work with about 400 parakeets is
that right
parents parents yes 400 pair what’s the
difference between a parent and a
parakeet parakeet is a type of parent
okay okay great so you work with 400 of
them and you believe something very
strongly about them yes what is it that
that you believe and then I’m gonna ask
you what are you doing about it but what
do you believe about parrots that
everyone that you want to stand on every
mountaintop and just shout out you know
something what would that the world
doesn’t know there’s a big idea that
you’re passionate about what is it that
you believe the crux of what I do and
why I do what I do is to bring awareness
of the plight of parrots in captivity
parrots are a wild animal they’re not
domesticated they’re not a cat or a dog
and we are bringing parrots into our
home and we are forcing them into a life
of captivity which is so contrary to the
way that a parrot was developed
evolution gave them all the skills to be
wonderful wild animals to fly to forge
so it’s a fight to chew to para bond
have these really dynamic lives in the
wild and what we’ve done is brought them
into our homes and the reality that the
parrot has sacrificed an incredible
amount to be in our homes with us so
what I’m trying to do is start a
conversation with people about let’s not
bring wild animals into our home let’s
not try to take a wild animal make it a
pet because it’s the animal that really
loses a life of autonomy and freedom so
my philosophy is that parrots should not
be pets so of the top 10 pets you know
in the US I’m sure dog and cat are
pretty high up ferrets are probably not
very high where the know nothing against
ferrets but yeah okay and sloths are
probably not very high where is the
parrot so you’ve got cats number one
dogs number two number one above dogs
yeah and then you have fish technically
number three and then you
parents so parrots are one of the most
popular companion animals but they’re
not a companion animal they’re a wild
animal
they’re wild animal in captivity so how
did you come to this conclusion that
parents should not be caged like was it
did you read a book did you see it in a
movie did it come to you in a vision
when you were with the wolves like like
what what turned you onto this it’s been
an evolution I think for me when I was
working with wolves and I understood the
experience of these wolves were having
in in people’s homes and how they were
losing their homes and they were being
euthanized simply because we wanted to
sort of tame the wild and put into our
living room the parrot issue is no
different
parrots are extremely intelligent they
are social they have just these dynamic
personalities and this immense capacity
for understanding and experience and I
started to realize that we have taken
this flighted animal and we’ve put it in
the cage in our living room and it’s
like if you think about one of nature’s
greatest gifts it can give you it’s the
gift of flight I mean like ask a kid
what superhuman power would you want you
probably get a lot of kids that say
flight and parents have that that it’s
so intrinsic to their like very core it
is what makes a parrot a parent and we
have sort of taken that right away from
them because we want that companionship
we want that proximity what was the
moment that you were like I need to know
what was the moment that you realized
that something needed to be done on this
and that you were going to be the person
you know that was going to help help
here I am i watch a documentary called
parrot confidential about an
organization called foster parents which
is actually where I now work and it was
my first time really appreciating how
much parrots have sacrificed and how
much I didn’t even preciate that you
know we have a wild animal persisting in
our homes and we don’t think twice about
it and that I didn’t think twice about
the fact that when you stick a flighted
animal in a cage you I mean it’s the
saddest thing I mean it’s just
heartbreaking and when you get a dog you
can take him to a dog park and they
do you think the people would you be
satisfied with the compromise if people
took their parent to like a parrot park
and kind of you know flew around or that
that’s that that’s not so some people do
some people do free flight their parrots
it comes with risks but the reality is
that even a park free flying your parrot
it’s not going to mimic or even closely
resemble a fifty square mile habitat
flying over the Amazon rainforest and
you know eating mangoes up a tree and
eating you know that they eat a nuts and
fruits and I mean nothing we can offer a
parrot will ever come close to what
their life is like in the wild so these
parents that what what activities do
they exhibit to show that they don’t
want to be captive like are they sending
us any signals like do they have like a
nervous twitch with an eye like are they
doing anything that would just be
screaming at us we are not good you know
species Coco living with them is there
any signs that we’ve seen there’s a lot
of there’s a lot of science I know so
the most I always this is always the
tough part of the conversation I have
it’s sort of the saddest part of the
conversation I have when I talk about
parents parents engage in in self-harm
and self-mutilation as a result of
captivity and they will actually they
pluck out their feathers they destroy
their feathers they will go so far as to
go in to their skin and into their their
chest bone and we have parents that do
that and the day you see a parent who
has attempted to kill itself because the
state in which it’s being kept is so
inappropriate and so contrary to its its
nature to the thing that makes it want
to live captivity has taken that away
and these parrots are hurting themselves
and we don’t see this in the wild and we
can’t turn away from that proof I mean
they can’t speak to us and say I’m
unhappy this isn’t working for me
what they’re
as they’re pulling their feathers out
they’re hurting themselves and it let me
ask you this and I bet you some people
are wondering about this themselves so
you know we were in the back and you see
the cage where Abby and Michelle are how
does that make you feel you’re sitting
in in a exhibit which is you know not
too different than these things that
you’re rallying against is there some
irony here and and you you know this is
a video that many will see do you want
to say anything about the fact that
you’re in you know an enclosed space
yeah to raise awareness because you seem
pretty passionate about this I am
extremely passionate about it and I’ve
been lucky enough to go and work in
places like Costa Rica and Guyana and
I’ve been able to see parrots free and
there’s nothing more beautiful than
watching a parrot fly free and to fly in
a flock with its family and I’ll never
let that go it’s like this is a
beautiful exhibit this is a beautiful
zoo in in but no matter what my very
core will always tell me there is no
cage big enough for a parrot
there is no cage big enough for a
flighted animal and it’s not to say that
we’ll ever have a world where animals
won’t be living in cages and I know
that’s you know there circumstances were
we have to I get it but I always want to
be pushing forward this idea that we
need to challenge the way we look at
animals and what we think is acceptable
for an animal’s existence and what is
there right as an individual you know I
know that animal rights people get
really sensitive about that terminology
and this idea but it’s the idea that
this is an animal that has a right to
autonomy and freedom and just like we
have that and I want to start that that
conversation have that dialogue as
uncomfortable as it is as hypocritical
as it can be I get you know it’s it has
to happen so my last question where is
this dialogue like has this gone
mainstream is this just kind of fringe
and and the people who are speaking this
up you know aren’t being heard like at
what point is this idea
it’s this idea is it’s it’s getting
strength it’s growing its evolving each
animals getting its own platform cats
and dogs are getting a platform horses
and farm animals are getting platforms
you know greyhounds are getting a
platform parrots we’re a little farther
behind for some reason we’re about ten
years behind and really getting involved
in the animal welfare conversation and
it’s an uncomfortable one it’s new it
challenges a lot of our ideas on what is
a wild animal versus tamed animal what
is domesticated versus not what is our
right to ownership our you know so it
taps into all these these issues and I
want to open that dialogue I invite
people to come to my sanctuary we have a
sanctuary in Hope Valley Rhode Island
and please check out our website and
come I will give you a tour I will
introduce you to our Birds I will tell
you their stories and we can start the
dialogue there and we can work towards a
better future for people and animals to
I had a cockatiel growing up so you feel
like you think I was as a child probably
not the best caregiver for a parrot it
was probably not an appropriate pet for
me to have and I think there is a bit of
me that does feel that I need to do
right by Monet which was his name and
honor the parrots that need help and
need a voice and need us to advocate for
them because the realities of parrots
are languishing in small cages and
people’s basements and they are getting
sick and they are dying young and they
are unhappy and this is a result of
captivity and this as a result of humans
doing this and so if we have the power
to change it we have the power to stop
this we have the power to to do better
and make better choices for these
animals
well danique here her raw roar thank you
for sharing your idea from our stage you
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