This is Violet’s adoption story. Her rescue story is here.

Guest Post by Chrissy Liu

I met Violet and Elizabeth on August 6th at an adoption fair in Japan Town, SF.  I was there visiting my sisters for their birthday when we happened upon the Palomacy booth on our way to lunch.

My youngest sister, Camille, has always had a soft spot for pigeons in particular and we were hoping to stop by and see the birds after lunch and lucky for us, Palomacy was still there.  Elizabeth immediately drew me in and started telling me Violet’s story, and when she said “Here! You should be holding her!” I knew I was hooked.

From the very beginning, Violet was good natured with me. During that first meeting, while I held her, she started trying to preen her pigeon pants off and I was instantly intrigued by her.  I’ve had birds before but there was just something about Violet that I couldn’t stop thinking about even after I had gotten home.  After a few days and having gotten the ok from my family, I decided to send in an adoption application for Violet. Elizabeth suggested fostering to adopt since Violet is a special needs bird and soon enough she came to live with us.

My kids still remember sitting and listening to “the pigeon lady” talk about Violet and how to care for her.  I think having Violet in our home has actually taught them that every animal is special and deserves respect and compassion.

After about a month of fostering, Elizabeth asked if I’d consider adopting Violet and I said “of course!”  Violet has adjusted to the chaos of our busy home like a champ!  Her cage is in our main living room and she watches the kids and dog run laps through the house all day from the safety of her nest. At this point, with so many young children in the house, she just can’t have free roam for her own safety. But she does get plenty of supervised time outside of her cage!  If I’m home she is usually out in her little dog bed box or to-go basket.

In the afternoon, after the kids get home from school, we put Violet in her basket where she will sit on the kitchen table and supervise homework time, or whatever activity the kids are doing.

She suffers their affections and often gives in to head scratches with big neck stretches and yawns. Sometimes she can be stubborn and territorial, especially about her nest, which makes perfect sense, but we love on her anyway. A quick scoop of her fluffy butt out of her nest and she’s back to being the easy-going cuddly pigeon that we know and love.

Her cooing and fluffing reassures me that she is happy here. We hope to build an aviary outside one day, in the hopes that she might regain her ability to walk and perhaps be willing to find a partner. But even if that never happens we love our Violet to-go, and we’d be perfectly happy to have her as our table centerpiece forever.

Thanks again for bringing Violet and I together!  It amazes me how many lives Palomacy has saved or improved even if they couldn’t be saved. Palomacy is a great reminder that there are good people and there is good to be found in this chaotic and often scary world.

Chrissy & Family
….and Violet too.

Chrissy Liu writes, I am from San Jose, and after graduating college moved to Alameda with my firefighter husband.  Now I’m a stay-at-home mom of three children, a small flock of budgies, finches, and now Violet, a pugfaced pup, and sweet cat.  I’ve always had an affinity for animals, birds in particular…probably a trait I inherited from my grandmother.