California: Luis Hernandez of the Visalia Delta Times wants you to believe that killing mourning doves is not about killing

"Dove season off to strong start"

CALIFORNIA -- Tulare’s Steve Facchini said the start of dove hunting season is an important day on his calendar.

“It’s like a national holiday,” he said. “It’s a tradition.”

On Thursday, Facchini, his daughter, Jenna, and several of his friends woke up early and drove down to a property south of Tulare.

The season started 30 minutes before dawn. That’s also about the time the birds start to stretch their wings.

Mourning doves are native to the area and there’s a limit on the number that can be hunted. By law, each hunter can only nab 15 birds per hunting session.

Note how the author Luis Hernandez uses key words and phrases to take away from the fact that this story is about killing animals. Instead of saying kill he says "nab".

This year, the hunting limit was increased because there was a spike on the estimated dove population, said Ben Lewis, spokesman for California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Facchini hit his limit just hours into the hunt. Others took home 12 and 13 before calling it a day. Lewis, who ran a compliance checkpoint on Thursday in Fresno County, said many hunters were reporting 13 birds per hunt.

Note how Hernandez says Facchini "hit his limit" rather than shot and killed his limit... and that "[o]thers took home 12 and 13" rather than saying shot and killed. How many did they shoot and not locate? And of those not located that had been shot, how many were still alive and left suffering in the fields?

“The majority of the hunters follow the rules,” he said.

Hunters kill more doves each year — more than 20 million — than any other animal in the country, according to the Humane Society.

Fachinni said he has hunted the same spot for more than a decade. He’s also hunted with the same group nearly as long.

“We all know each other,” he said. “We are conscious about gun safety. I trust them and they trust me. We are not going to shoot across people.”

Lewis said dove hunting creates bonds between hunters and memories for groups.

“It’s not about taking birds,” he said. “It’s about the experience. It’s about the camaraderie.”

Notice it's the Fish & Game spokesperson who pushes this agenda... that it's really not about all that 'killing animals' stuff that gets everyone so upset, let's push a different agenda.

There seems to be theme here about hunters saying it's not about the maiming and killing. It's about the bonding experience(!). Look at this article from the Star Tribune: “It’s not how many you kill, it’s about having fun" 

Fachinni said the hunt does include instances of good-natured ribbing for missing an opportunity.

“We do talk some stuff,” he said.

For Fachinni, dove hunting is a way for him to spend time with his daughter.

“It’s time to form a bond,” he said.

Steve Fachinni earned a total of nearly $150,000 in pay and benefits from taxpayers as a Fire Captain in Tulare last year (Regular pay: $71,919.00, Overtime pay: $31,020.00, Other pay: $7,502.00, Total pay: $110,441.00, Total benefits: $38,152.00 = Total pay and benefits $148,593.00)

Ironic, isn't it, that he works full-time saving people and animals and in his spare time he maims and kills animals?  

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), “Dove hunting is a great opportunity for adults to introduce kids to hunting maiming and killing animals for fun,” said Ryan Bronson, DNR hunting recruitment and retention coordinator (Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 25, 2004). 

In preparation for dove season, Fachinni said hunters practice with clay pigeons and other targets. When the season kicks off, hunters check their shotguns, ammunition, gear and other items that will be used all season.

Lewis said dove hunting’s popularity relates to the calendar.

“It’s the first major opening for the [hunting] season,” she said. “It’s the first opening to get on the field and get some hunting done.”

There are two hunting seasons. The early season will continue through Sept. 15. The late season will go from Nov. 12 through Dec. 26.

Fachinni said most hunters hit the fields in the morning, while many go at dusk. Midday is too hot and the birds find shade in the trees. Mourning doves are sometimes called the "farmer’s friend" because they eat weed seeds and leave crops alone.

Lewis said Mourning Doves are migratory birds, flying to Mexico or farther south during the winter months.

“They migrate long distances considering they are a small bird,” he said.

There are other doves that remain in one spot, staying close to their nests.

“They are very fluid, very adaptive,” Lewis said. “That’s why they are so successful.”

Typically, most birds have a life expectancy between three and five years. However, a dove lived to be 30 years.

“That’s very old for a dove,” Lewis said.

Fachinni said he was hosting a barbeque Thursday evening, when all hunted bird were to be cooked.

Of the 20 MILLION mourning doves killed each year, how many are actually plucked and cleaned and eaten? Fachinni is one of the ones who actually does all this, but I doubt very many of the other 19,999,985 doves killed each year in the USA are eaten. After all, it's a lot of work ripping off feathers, pulling out guts and organs and cleaning meat to be cooked - especially when you're likely to only get about a few oz. of meat per bird.

DEATH IS NOT INSTANTANEOUS
It is estimated that 30% of the doves shot during "hunting season" fall to the ground and are never recovered by the killers (aka "hunters"). Are the doves dead, flapping their wings mortally wounded or minimally wounded only to fly away later with lead embedded in their bodies? No one knows. But what I do know is that an animal that falls to the ground after being shot is IN PAIN AND SUFFERING AND NOTHING IS DONE ABOUT IT TO END ITS PAIN AND SUFFERING. Why? Because the killers are too busy shooting other birds to be bothered with this little bird lying there suffering.

This mourning dove is still alive

This article from 2013 says 20 MILLION mourning doves are shot each year in the United States. This means that of those 20 MILLION, 30% - SIX MILLION - fall to the earth either dead and left to rot or still alive and left to suffer for hours, maybe days, until they finally die of their injuries or starvation or dehydration. 

What do hunters have to say about injured birds?
"On dove and quail, I pop the head off about half the time when trying the twirl. I usually just choke it out if it has a lot of life in it or throw it in the bag if it looks like it's on it's way out [so the bird could end up lying in the bag suffering for hours before finally dying or suffocating from all the other dead animals dumped on top of it]. I have shot at dove while one was in my left hand flopping around. Now I leave it in the dogs mouth and scan the skies before grabbing it [meaning he lets his dog chew it to death]."

BTK KILLER AND THE "TAXIDERMIST'S PINCH"
"If you have a bird that you want to get mounted, the taxidermist's pinch is slower, but by far the best way. If you don't know, the taxidermist's pinch involves grabbing the bird under the wings, just below the breast muscles and applying pressure, thus suffocating the bird. It takes a minute or two, but it does less damage to the bird than any of the other methods, and your taxidermist will thank you." -- The BTK Killer suffocated many of his victims. How long do you think two minutes - 120 seconds - would feel like while you're suffocating and fighting to breathe?

ONLY ABOUT 5% OF THE US POPULATION ARE REGISTERED HUNTERS
There are only about 16.6 million registered hunters in USA compared to the population of about 318.9 million. That means just 5% of the American population enjoys maiming and killing animals.

I'm not against hunting as long as the person is skilled enough to ensure a quick death AND processes the meat to eat. I have serious doubts that people like this are the majority, though. I think most people who call themselves hunters aren't skilled at shooting, are lazy and set up bait stations, shoot at whatever is unfortunate enough to cross their path, don't bother to track down injured animals which flee, aren't 'responsible hunters', etc. - they just like killing animals or want a head to mount in their office.

(Visalia Times Delta - Sept 1, 2016)

New Jersey: Officials find nearly 200 birds in 'hoarding' situation

NEW JERSEY -- Nearly five years ago, Luis Sejas, a Market Street business owner, was bludgeoned by a man bearing a hammer or a machete – knocked out cold while his cash register was looted of $1,500.

To help him cope with the trauma of a serious injury and the robbery, a doctor told the now 65-year-old Sejas to take up a hobby, he said. So he harkened back to his childhood days in Bolivia, where he loved bird-watching, and he decided to adopt a two exotic birds of his own, caring for them in the back of his bicycle repair shop.

What started with just a few pet birds spiraled out of control in the five years since, culminating in an emergency rescue operation on Monday where volunteers removed nearly 200 birds, many of them exotic breeds, from deplorable conditions.

The rescuers found mice scurrying about, cockroach-infested nesting boxes and birds living in cramped, less-than-ideal living quarters of the shop’s back room. Cockatiels were stuffed 16 to a cage made for two, while two Amazon yellow-naped parrots were living in a small crate.

The business owner, who has not been charged with a crime, said he meant well for the birds. And for him and his partner of 20 years, the rescue operation was a heart-wrenching ordeal.

“This is torture for me,” he said in Spanish, inhaling a deep breath while tears welled in his eyes. “To see the empty room is really difficult for me. It used to always make me happy to go in there.”

More than 100 cockatiels, about 40 mourning doves, and dozens of other birds — including a cockatoo, four Amazon parrots and eight sun conure parakeets — were discovered in the back room of the business after a series of city inspections last week, authorities said.

Some 30 wire cages were stacked one atop the other, some reaching the ceiling of the back kitchen.

Luis Vazquez, an officer with the Passaic County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said charges against the business owner “may be pending.” He described the situation as a “hoarding case turned into a rescue.” Vazquez said though the couple was breeding birds in the shop’s backroom, there is no evidence they were selling them.

Sejas called the animals his “therapy birds,” Vazquez said. He and his partner cooperated by surrendering the birds to rescue groups.

For as bad as the conditions were, rescuers said the birds mostly appeared to be in good health. Paula Ashfield, who runs a bird sanctuary in Sussex County, removed the white umbrella cockatoo from a cat carrier and danced in a circle while it perched on her arm, bobbing its head as she sang a tune. Afterward, it belted out a few excited screeches.

The business owner’s partner said she would most miss the cockatoo, which she named Bumble, and a red-lored parrot she called Charlie. When Charlie was brought out of the room, she cried out the bird’s name, whistled and took pictures of it with her cell phone as tears streamed down her face.

Sejas said having the birds helped him deal with the impact of the robbery and assault in April 2011, which was documented in a police report. He was left severely hurt with broken ribs and head injuries which led him to get 22 stitches and five stitches near his eyebrow, and bruises throughout his body. He said it took him more than two months to recover from his injuries, and one of his doctors told him that he should focus on things he likes to help him get better.

“It was like therapy, the birds distracted me,” he said. “Every time I would see that one was born it would make me happy.”

He said as a child growing up in the countryside of Bolivia, he often would go out to look at birds and would often bring some home with him. He said he loved to raise animals as a hobby, remembering that at one time he raised rabbits and guinea pigs in Bolivia.

When he started homing birds in the backroom of his store, he said he thought it was the best place because it was near the backyard.

“It started off with one type of bird and I wanted others,” Sejas said, fidgeting with a cord in his hands. “It was like a collection for me.”

He said that he bought some of the birds at local pet shops and flea markets, but most were born in his own shop. Witnessing the births was a recurring moment of joy, he and his partner said.

“The animals were so beautiful when they were born, and as they grow they get to know you,” said the woman, who did not give her name.

Sejas said last week a fire inspector went to his shop and found the birds, and told him he had too many.

“I was so scared, I didn’t know it was against the law,” he said.

The Passaic fire inspector, Michael Shatrin, issued a notice of violation to the business last week, listing four offenses – having an illegal bedroom, excessive storage, a malfunctioning fire extinguisher and a back door that was inaccessible.

The business owner said he planned on moving some of the birds to larger cages but didn’t get around to it. He also said he tried to control the mouse and roach problem, sometimes spending hours cleaning the store.

The couple is being allowed to keep one of the birds – a blue-fronted parrot called Lolita – as long as they take it to a veterinarian and keep it at home.

No birds were found dead, but some newborns that were removed last week did not survive, said Ashfield, founder of Under My Wing Avian Refuge in Wantage. She spent hours scrubbing the back room on Thursday and took with her some finches and canaries.

Most of the other birds were distributed among four different rescue groups and sanctuaries on Monday – two in New Jersey, one in New York and one in Maryland.

On Monday, Ashfield wore rubber gloves and plastic covers on her boots while she removed the birds, and left the room grimacing.

“We got cockroaches flying off the walls, into breeding cages, everywhere,” she said.

After the birds are tested for diseases, most will go up for adoption by the various groups, Ashfield said.

To donate to the rescue effort, visit the Under My Wing Avian Refuge website at Facebook.com/UMWAR or email donate@undermywing.org.

According to the bird rescue Facebook page, the SPCA decided it was "a case of hoarding and not intentional neglect" and would not be filing charges. I disagree with this decision unless these owners have willingly agreed to get mental health counseling. Without mental health intervention, the recidivism rate for hoarding is 100%.

(North Jersey - Jan 20, 2016)

Thomas Knox stole and tortured 200 rare birds and stuffed carcasses into mailboxes

UNITED KINGDOM -- A teenager who tortured more than 200 rare birds before posting the carcasses through people's letterboxes with a grin has been jailed for six months.

Thomas Knox, 19, squeezed, kicked and battered the birds to death after stealing them from a life-long collector's aviary in Brownhills, West Midlands.

  

CCTV footage shows the teenager arrive with three others at a block of flats in Walsall, with bags and boxes containing the dead and alive animals, including doves and rare jays and quails.

The video shows him grinning as the gang then post the birds through resident's letterboxes and force them through 'barely open' living room windows.

One shocking image shows one of the vile yobs kick a bird across the hallway while others were jammed into drawers and even chased by a dog.

On Wednesday Knox, from Bloxwich, appeared via video-link at Walsall Magistrates Court and was jailed for six months.

He was also ordered to pay £350 compensation and £80 victim surcharge.

Chairman of the bench, Bob Thomas, described the case as the 'most disturbing' he had ever seen.

He added: 'The animals must have suffered significant distress. Your trial was one of the most disturbing I have ever had the misfortune to sit in.'

Mr Thomas also cirticised Knox for spending most of the trial giggling with his co-accused in the dock.

The court heard Knox went along to the flats with pals Jake Higgs, 23, Chad Worgan, 19, and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons.

They had earlier bundled the birds into sacks and containers after stealing them from a collectors house in Brownhills, West Midlands.

Owner Lee Williams, 43, who spent his life collecting rare jays, finches, budgerigars, doves, quails and pigeons, was 'devastated' after the yobs only left one bird alive.

Maggie Meakin, prosecuting, said it would cost £1,500 to replace the birds, and added: 'He cannot afford to replace the birds and he cannot claim on the insurance.'

Knox was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, receiving stolen goods, common assault and using threatening words or behavior.

The latter charges related to his behavior towards a dog warden and housing staff when he was told his dog was going to be taken away.

Vaughn Whistance, defending, said Knox was a vulnerable young man who suffered with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism.

He added: 'He has been greatly influenced by the behavior of others.'

Co-accused Higgs from Mossley, West Midlands, was also due to learn his fate on Wednesday but failed to show up and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Worgan, from Goscote, Walsall, was jailed for six months last Friday for his role in the act of animal cruelty.

The other defendant, 16-year-old boy, was given an 18-month rehabilitation order.

(Daily Mail - May 14, 2015)

Cañon City woman, Stephanie Patton, facing 8 charges of animal cruelty

COLORADO -- The Fremont County Sheriff's Office has charged a Cañon City woman with eight counts of felony animal cruelty.

According to deputies, Stephanie Patton, 46, was last seen in Canon City before leaving for Louisiana three weeks ago. When she never showed up in Louisiana, deputies were called out to check her house, but weren't able to find her.

Three checks later, deputies say they noticed two horses and five llamas on her property without adequate food and water. The Fremont County Sheriff's Office got a warrant to seize all of the animals on the property.

On January 16, deputies and animal law enforcement seized the horses, llamas and a dove in a cage in the home on the property. While they were seizing the animals, deputies say Patton called them claiming that the animals had plenty of water.

Calls to Patton have went unanswered and deputies weren't able to find her until Wednesday afternoon, when she turned herself in to the sheriff's office without incident.

(KOAA.com Colorado Springs and Pueblo News - Jan 21, 2015)

New York: Dead animals, others barely alive, found at Maria Faricellie's Dodge Boarding Kennels boarding kennel

NEW YORK -- Almost 150 animals – about half of them deceased and stashed away in freezers as long as three years ago – were seized from a Getzville boarding kennel Friday morning by law enforcement officials.

The sight at Dodge Boarding Kennels on Dodge Road was as horrifying as it was bizarre.

Dogs locked away in crates were living in around-the-clock darkness.

Doves with no feathers on their necks were packed into a tiny cage.

The teeth of a Chinchilla had grown so long the animal starved to the brink of death.

And, there were 72 dead animals. They had been bagged, tagged and stored in a kennel freezer.

“This is textbook hoarder behavior,” said Gina Browning, spokeswoman for the SPCA Serving Erie County. “In some cases, the dead animals were better cared for than the live animals.

“The people in this establishment were working to care for these carcasses.”

Browning said charges are expected in the case but are pending a thorough investigation by both SPCA officials and the state Department of Environmental Conservation Police. Officials declined to release the names of the operators until charges are filed. Browning said officials were still trying to sort out the business owners, property owner and owners of the animals.

Public records show the property is owned by Maria L. Faricellie. It remained unclear late Friday what, if any, role Faricellie had in the operation of the kennel, however.

Neither Faricellie nor anyone at the kennel responded to repeated telephone calls Friday.

The kennel’s website advertises that it offers a place “where your pet becomes a part of our family” and accommodates “traditional and non-traditional pets” for day care and overnight boarding, walks, bathing and grooming, around-the-clock supervision and other services.

As horrific as the scene was, Browning said it is unlikely felony charges will be filed in the case.

“This isn’t like setting a dog on fire,” Browning said. “I know it’s perverse. For them, this is a form of love. This is a person who believes they are caring for and providing for these animals.

“Are you going for a case like where someone put an arrow through a cat? No, it’s different.”

But, Browning said, by state law, it is still defined as animal cruelty.

Hello. You charge them the maximum. They had intent. They knew that the animals were dying left and right. They hid them away. They knowingly continued this house of horrors for their own desires. No, no one really expects them to be sent off to prison but you file the maximum charges and get them on probation for YEARS to prevent them from doing this again.

In total, rescuers took away 77 live animals. The DEC took a half-dozen of them. Those were different turtles, tortoises and frogs that were illegally possessed under state law. The other animals – which included dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, at least one chicken and the chinchilla – went to the SPCA’s Town of Tonawanda facility.

Officials later decided to retrieve the freezers kept at the kennel with the dead animals, which also included a dead raccoon. Those animals were taken to the SPCA.

SPCA investigators needed a search warrant from Amherst Town Court to get onto the site Friday and conducted the raid with DEC officials and assistance from Amherst Police.

“We were out there twice last week and were denied entry to the premises,” Browning said.

The rescue was based in part on information received from anonymous sources, Browning said, possibly former customers.

Online reviews of the kennel varied. Some, including testimonials on the kennel’s website, praised the facility.

“The girls that work there go out of their way for all the animals and you can tell that they love each and every one of the animals as if they were the only ones there,” wrote Donna of Ransomville last December on the website Yelp.

However, Macie of Massachusetts, who said she dropped off her beagles only to pick them up a short time later, cautioned: “When you go to the facility, you can immediately see signs that the place is dirty and not well kept. The outside is bad, the inside is worse. As soon as you walk through the doors, you are hit over the head with the stench of dirty animals.”

Browning said the animals seized Friday appeared to be suffering from myriad ailments due to maltreatment, neglect or squalor at the kennel.

Cats were sick with upper respiratory infections. The nails on the chicken grew so long, they began to “corkscrew,” Browning said.

The doves were packed so tightly in a cage, they began pecking each other’s necks until the feathers fell off.

The chinchilla was fighting for its life late Friday at the SPCA, but officials weren’t optimistic it would survive.

The animal was grossly dehydrated and malnourished and, although SPCA officials were administering fluids late Friday, may already have been into organ failure.

Other animals were malnourished, had pressure sores or severe matting or were existing in unsanitary conditions, Browning said.

“They were suffering in means consistent with their species,” she said.

Most of the animals seemed to be owned by the operators of the kennel, according to SPCA officials. In at least one case, however, Browning said the SPCA was contacted Friday by a dog owner who dropped a pet off there Thursday and was seeking to recover it. The animal was in the SPCA’s custody.

Officials could not say exactly how long the abuse was occurring, but one clue suggested it may have been at least three years.

A tag on one of the frozen carcasses dated from early 2011.

Browning said the bagged and tagged animals were found in three separate freezers.

“Mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, cats, dogs and a raccoon were in the freezers,” Browning said. “We also found a turtle shell and skull.”

Hoarders often have a need for control over the animal in life and in death, she said.

“When an animal is dead, they are carefully bagged and tagged,” Browning said of the Getzville situation. “The variety of the deceased animals is surprising. That’s unusual. I’ve seen dogs and cats and some rabbits, but there’s quite a variety here.”

Initial attempts to survey kennel conditions by SPCA Officers Jessica Coughlin and Christina Vitello were rebuffed Oct. 27 and 28, Browning confirmed.

At that time, Coughlin and Vitello reported an overwhelming odor of urine and a littered yard and hearing dogs and cats from inside the kennel.

“On Tuesday, they invited us back, and it was clear they were making an attempt clean the premises, but things were too far along,” Browning said. “The floor was still soaked from just being washed, and the water bowls contained feces to the extent it had the consistency of mud.”

(Buffalo News - Nov 7, 2014)

325 live birds found in Aurora hoarder's home

ILLINOIS -- Workers wearing hazmat suits, rubber boots and masks removed more than 300 birds from an Aurora townhome Friday.

The city served bird hoarder Dave Skeberdis, 57, with a court order authorizing the city to remove the hundreds of birds from his townhouse in the 200 block of Shadybrook Lane on the city’s far East Side.

Seven crew members collected 325 live birds from the home in six hours on Friday, according to city spokesman Kevin Stahr. The birds appear to be in good condition.

The birds were turned over to the Greater Chicago Cage Bird Club, where they are being housed in a storefront at 19 W. Park in Villa Park for a 30- to 60-day quarantine period. The birds have been exposed to poor air quality conditions, said Barbara Morris, bird club spokesman.

“It’s not a case of cruelty. It’s a case of too much love,” she said.

Hazmat operation: Stahr also said 120 dead birds were removed from the home Friday. The birds died prior to the city contractor entering the home. They were given to Aurora Animal Control for proper disposal.

The city’s contractor, Restoration Techs, entered the home at 10 a.m. Friday. Crews covered the front entrance of the home with a black tarp and had air scrubbers working in the home.

The contractor found 40 live birds on the home’s second floor, 28 on the first floor and 257 in the basement. Birds found in the home included parakeets, cockatiels, conures, canaries, doves and finches.

The homeowner’s possessions, trash and other debris were moved around in the home but not removed during the bird rescue operation, according to Deputy Fire Chief John Lehman. Debris in the stairwells of the home were three-feet deep and packed tightly, he said.

City officials confirmed that the electricity and heat are functioning in the townhouse.

Counseling offer: City officials said Skeberdis was cooperative Friday, and chose not to be present during the removal process.

Dave Skeberdis brings the first of his birds out.

“I’m sure it’s a very emotional process for him,” Lehman said.

Morris said the bird club has promised Skeberdis they will not adopt out his conures, which he said are like his children. The club will work with Skeberdis to allow him to keep those six to eight birds.

“We hope that through counseling that his problems will be addressed,” Morris said.

Neighbors understanding: Now that the birds have been removed from the home, the barricades have been cleared from Shadybrook Lane, and the city has turned the property back over to the homeowner. The city plans to re-inspect the home Friday, because the homeowner was previously cited for two property code violations, Stahr said.

Neighbor Chuck Stack said it’s the second hoarder case on his block in the past two years. Another neighbor was a hoarder, too, he said.

“I have a lot of compassion for hoarders. It’s not that infrequent,” said Stack’s wife, Virginia Stack, a mental health counselor. “It’s a mental illness. We don’t blame (Skeberdis).”

[Hmm, OK, so you don't blame the hoarder. Who gets the blame for the suffering the animals went through, the ones who were starved to death or died due to a lack of having a clean, humane living environment? It's like saying don't blame the person who was driving drunk and killed a family. 'Oh, they have a sickness (alcoholism). It's a disease. You can't blame them.' Let's remember that these animals suffered horribly. To rehabilitate someone, they need to accept that they caused pain and suffering. And they need to take responsibility for the choices they made. The animals didn't choose to live (and die) this way.]

City crews were called to the bird hoarder home last week after a painting contractor working outside the home noticed several dead birds inside and called police. Aurora Animal Control and city inspectors deemed the property unfit for habitation, contacted the homeowner and received a search warrant for the property.

Skeberdis, employed in the information technology field, said he can now understand that his bird collecting is out of control. He said he is from a family of hoarders.

“I think it’s time for a change in my life,” Skeberdis said earlier this week.

Skeberdis, who is not married, acquired his first bird seven years ago. While working in computer support at United Airlines, he “rescued” a parakeet, and later named the bird “Doc.”

“I saved his life, and he saved mine,” Skeberdis said.

Over time, he bought and adopted more birds.

(Aurora Beacon News - Oct 26, 2012)