Guest Post by Seyma

Pidgy and her sibling were born as wild rock pigeons, enjoying the comfort of their nest and the warmth of their parents until someone with ill intentions decided that he did not want them there. They were not given the chance to grow up and fly away, with the excuse that they were “on his property”. So their nest was taken down and the babies were left on the corner of the sidewalk near the trash bins, to die… Someone found them and took them to an animal shelter, only to be put on the list to be euthanized because they did not deal with pigeons. So this is where our story begins… 

This is a story of love and perseverance. Love of life and willingness to survive against all odds. I met these two babies after they were brought to the shelter, cold, sad and separated from the parents that cared for them up until someone decided they didn’t deserve to live. I knew at that point I needed to step in and rescue them from being euthanized. Humans have failed them twice by now, and they needed another chance. After getting some warmth and nutrition, they started to perk up and in a few days, they became the happiest, funniest baby pigeons. I bought them nests, toys, and cages, just to spoil them and get them ready for the wild life ahead. The plan was to raise them up with minimal human exposure so that they could be healthy and wild, and live a long happy life as wild pigeons they were. However, life doesn’t always happen according to plans. This plan failed miserably after I purchased them a very big, fancy and considerably expensive cage so that they could get acclimated to the great outdoors. It was made of metal fencing that was rodent-proof. Sounded good at first. Then, on their first day there, after barely an hour, I noticed blood! Then I saw that Pidgy was bleeding from the beak and the lower beak was split into two, like a fork!!! I can not put that moment into words. I was sick to my stomach, nauseous, angry, and guilty. I couldn’t believe that I missed to see a wire sticking out in the cage and to this day, I still have no idea how she managed to put her soft lower beak into it and slice it like that. Another human had failed her yet again… And that’s when everything changed…

I stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound and looked for emergency vets. There were no emergency avian vets on a Saturday evening, literally the worst time for such an injury. I knew from experience that it was bad, and very unlikely to heal, but I kept praying I was wrong. I read probably everything online about beak injuries that night and couldn’t sleep. It was not until Monday that I could find an avian specialist that was willing to see her, and I confess I literally cried genuine tears on the phone for an appointment. Blessing in disguise, I came across the wonderful Dr. Speer at Medical Center for Birds who agreed to see Pidgy when no one else would, and helped us tremendously. He not only helped Pidgy, but also helped me by saying that even though she was not releasable any more, she could live a long and happy life if taken good care. 

So that was a problem… I was not equipped or capable of taking care for this pigeon in the long run due to multiple personal reasons. But humans have failed Pidgy so many times already and I was not going to fail him again. I tried contacting every resource that could provide long-term care with no avail. I hate people who take a responsibility and leave it half-way so I needed to find a way, but I just couldn’t… until Elizabeth at Palomacy lended me a helping hand! I will never forget the email she sent me after 10 days of hell I’ve been through thinking how I will help Pidgy! It was comforting, reassuring, very helpful, and it was the email that saved Pidgy at the end of the day. Elizabeth was going to try to find a placement for him!!!

Until the time Pidgy went to foster to adopt, he went to see Dr. Speer for 2 more times. After the initial glue came off, (which he managed to do in less than a week!) he had an operation under anesthesia to try to hold the beak together using a needle, stitches, and glue – which was a work of art. He also managed to take that needle off after 2-3 weeks, and even though that made the beak a little better, it was not healed. Now, it was misaligned. So we went to see the doctor one last time to accept that at this point, further intervention would be experimental and since he was in great body condition and a really happy pigeon, it was best to see what happens. Pidgy had a greatly misaligned beak, but that sure did not stop him from being funny, happy and friendly. He was getting supplemental feedings until he was ready to self-feed. 

With the help of Elizabeth, we were able to find a great person, dear Garni, to care for Pidgy. Garni already had 3 pigeons of her own, and accepted to give Pidgy a try. Funny enough, one of Garni’s rescues, Peepers, was born the same day Pidgy was probably born! Her pigeon was a very pretty, mostly white, bigger pigeon and Pidgy was a special-needs standard looking pigeon with a very crooked beak but Garni did not care about the looks. She accepted her as she is, with her big heart and personality. It was bittersweet to say goodbye as we’ve been together for about two months, went through hell, tears of sadness and happiness, a crazy rollercoaster of emotions. But it’’s only been three days and I can already see that Pidgy is happy and improving on learning to self-feed under Garni’s amazing care! Thank you Palomacy, Dr, Speer, Elizabeth, and of course, dear Garni! Pidgy is Pidgy all because of you amazing people. Every time we humans feel sad, hopeless or just bad overall, I think we should remember the awesome and resilient birds pigeons are, and perhaps be a little less human, and a little more pigeon!

Video courtesy of Jenna Close of www.BuckTheCubicle.com 

 

Seyma

I’ve been an animal lover for as long as I can remember. I did not have any siblings or friends growing up until I started elementary school, and even after that, animals were always my closest friends. I started rescuing and volunteering at a very young age. I volunteered at shelters in the UK, Turkey and the USA. I was one of the co-founders of a no-kill shelter abroad that helped strays and disabled dogs and cats find homes in Germany and other EU countries. To this day, I take pride in saying that animals are my passion and life force.