Hundreds of parakeets left at Michigan animal shelter

ROMEO, Mich. — A Michigan animal shelter is taking care of hundreds of parakeets that were dropped off Thursday night.

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In a Facebook post, the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) said it received a present it wasn’t expecting when a resident surrendered the 497 birds. The post says, “we were in shock also but could not turn them away as they were all crammed in 7 cages and smothering each other and needed immediate help.”

The team set up temporary housing for the birds, and volunteers came forward to donate parakeet food, The Detroit News reported.

Then, another post from DAWG revealed there was a second set of parakeets surrendered to the shelter, bringing the grand total of birds to 836.

The person who brought the birds to the shelter said they belonged to his father, who kept the birds in cages in one room of a house and spent $1,200 a month to feed them, The Detroit Free Press reported. “His son said that he just wanted to breed a few of them, and it got out of control. The problem is birds breed easily. And then you just have more babies and more babies and more babies if you don’t control the situation,” Kelly LeBonty, director of DAWG, told The Detroit Free Press.

On Facebook, DAWG said the parakeets would be available through the groups that have stepped forward to house them, but warned that owning parakeets is a 6-15 year commitment. Jojo’s Flying Friends, Birds and Beaks, and East Michigan Bird Rescue were all credited with stepping forward to help take care of the birds.

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