A Michigan animal shelter took a call last week from a man asking to bring by about 60 parakeets that belonged to his father. It was an unusually large request, but that wasn't the half of it. As it turns out, it wasn't even the tenth of it. As the Detroit Free Press reports, when the man arrived on Thursday, he actually had nearly 500 birds—497 to be exact—crammed into seven cages. Incredibly, the man dropped off an additional 339 birds on Sunday, reports the Detroit News. That would be a grand total of 836 birds. It seems his father had begun breeding the parakeets, "and it got out of control," says Kelley LeBonty, director of the Detroit Animal Welfare Group in Macomb County.
“The problem is birds breed easily," says LaBonty. "And then you just have more babies and more babies and more babies if you don’t control the situation." The shelter has been scrambling to provide care—some of the babies require hand-feeding—and other bird rescue organizations have been pitching in. The plan is to offer the birds for adoption once they're deemed healthy enough in a few weeks. It's possible, however, that some will have to be euthanized. "They were kind of on top of each other and smothering each other," says LeBonty. "They were very, very stressed. They were barely moving." Those interested in donating for the birds' care can contact the shelter. (More parakeets stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
