For bird volunteers, a bond is broken
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By Bryan McKenzie
Published: July 25, 2008
LOUISA —
Andrew Neilson sits by a cage, caressing the beak of the brightly feathered macaw he calls Cookie.
Cookie, her maw wide open, returns the caress, running her tongue along Mr. Neilson’s fingertip while purring like a tabby.
“It kills me,” he says, slow, soft and sad. “When we brought her home she was frightened and nervous and scared and she didn’t trust humans, but she adapted so well. She’s such a loving, sweet bird and she trusts me.”
Like a boy with his dog, Mr. Neilson and Cookie have a bond that even a novice can notice. That bond was officially broken Friday when Cookie, and 30 other macaws temporarily housed at the Central Virginia Parrot Sanctuary, were inspected, documented and returned to their original owners.
Charges of neglect
The macaws came to the sanctuary in May after Orange County Animal Control officers seized the birds and charged Danny Ray Crosswhite, 49, and Sally A. Crosswhite, 58, each with 27 counts of cruelty and four counts of neglect. Under an agreement reached in Orange County General District Court, all charges will be dropped and the birds will be returned to the Crosswhites under certain conditions.
Those conditions include the Crosswhites paying nearly $20,000 to the court to defray veterinary costs incurred in treating the birds. If the payments are made by Jan. 9, the birds will be returned. In the meantime, they will be housed in the Florida facility.
Sally Crosswhite declined to comment Friday, except to say they love their birds and will be glad to have them back.
When the birds came to the Louisa-based shelter, some were fostered out to volunteers while other birds, those unlikely to be tamed enough to be pets, were kept at the sanctuary.
“We didn’t have a cage for Cookie. She had a room that we remodeled specifically for her,” Mr. Neilson says. “I put in several different perches of different kinds of wood and she had the freedom to move around. Every morning I would get up, get ready for work, go in and clean up around her, give her fresh water and fresh fruit and nuts and food. We really grew close. She’s such a great bird.”
Cookie caws soft and low. Her tongue reaches again for Mr. Neilson’s fingertip, caressing the nail. She purrs.
‘Violating her trust’
Many of the volunteers and shelter staff, even the animal control officers, said they believed that the seizure would be permanent, much like those made in cases involving dogs and cats. Birds, however, are considered property under Virginia law. That led to the court agreement and the birds’ return, court officials have said.
It also led to the disappointment of people who care a great deal for the birds.
“I tried to purchase Cookie, but it didn’t work. We couldn’t agree on a price that I could afford,” Mr. Neilson said. “I feel like I’m violating her trust.”
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( Robbie ) on July 29, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Birdlover writes: “use them to bring in more donations to the shelter or sanctuary.“ Would somebody please explain to me how a shelter or sanctuary uses birds to get more donations? I am active for a bird rescue in California, and we would love to get more donations by getting more unfortunate birds that are abused, neglected, or simply need new homes. As it is, the birds keep coming, but it’s increasingly difficult to get donations in today’s economy. We are an all volunteer organization, and most of us give freely of our time fostering birds, and also donate bird food, toys, gas for transportation, $ for cages, etc. This is true of most bird shelters / sanctuaries / rescues, if not all of them.
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Posted by ( birdlover ) on July 29, 2008 at 3:49 pm
No. The defendants signed a PLEA AGREEMENT which essentially said they AGREED to pay the vet bills by xx date. The agreement then stated that they would be held to the original charges if this payment wasn’t made by xx date.
Since the AVIAN vet in the case found NO abuse and NO cruelty, if the defendants had wished to go thru a trial, I think it would have been difficult to convict them of abuse or cruelty. After all, the AVIAN vet in the case is the real expert, not the dog and cat vet. Big difference.
And, animal control…has anyone ever known of an animal control person who had avicultural knowledge? Guess if this one did, she would not have listed the birds as “blue and yellow”, “red and green”...but listed them by SPECIES name OR…even better…by their BAND numbers. That would have been the professional way to do it. We didn’t even see the dog and cat vet doing that.
The band number is the bird’s identification and none of these so-called “professionals” used it. Wonder why????
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Posted by ( Marc Johnson ) on July 28, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Hello again, just got this arial view of the “spacious sanctuary accommodations the birds went to. Funny, I don’t see any spaciousness there. And would someone point out to me which part of this property is the sanctuary part?
http://www.zillow.com/aerial/DualMapPage.htm?zpid=46496829
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Posted by ( Tigerlily ) on July 28, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Birdlover, Greed? Did you see the conditions that those birds were in? Did you see that every one of those birds was sick? Every One. They were living on top of piles of excrement. Piles of it.
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Posted by ( birdlover ) on July 27, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Quote from the news article: “Many of the volunteers and shelter staff, even the animal control officers, said they believed that the seizure would be permanent, much like those made in cases involving dogs and cats. Birds, however, are considered property under Virginia law. That led to the court agreement and the birds’ return, court officials have said.“ end quote
Well, unless Virginia has some really unusual laws…all animals that are owned, dogs, cats, horses, etc., are considered property, not just birds.
Across the US we are seeing more of these “predatory rescues” of allegedly “abused” animals: dogs, cats, horses, birds.
Even 20/20 did a special program on the outrageous taking of animals from owners on the allegation of abuse…so that those taking them could PROFIT by the taking. PROFIT as in sell them or use them to bring in more donations to the shelter or sanctuary. This was a major news program on national television… check it out for yourselves.
It appears that GREED is often a motive for removing birds and animals while alleging abuse. In this case…the authorities FIRST alleged abandonment. When that didn’t stick, they went to abuse.
If the local folks, AC or the sanctuary, wanted to REALLY HELP these birds, they would have HELPED them IN PLACE…not by removing them and stressing them beyond belief and separating them from their buddies of many years.
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Posted by ( birdlover ) on July 27, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Marc Johnson wrote: As for the subject of the two missing macaws, perhaps they never existed as they were not there when the state showed up to remove the birds and certainly Matt was not asked to help until way after the initial determination BY THE STATE OF VIRGINIA to remove these birds from their abusive conditions. end quote.
Well, now…since there was NO SEARCH WARRANT and NO CHARGES filed when the birds were confiscated…I would say the there is some question about the State of Virginia’s actions in taking the birds.
And Mr. Matt HAD met Dan Crosswhite earlier..apparently during the RETURN OF THE “STOLEN” hyacinth and blue and gold…at which event the SHERIFF was in attendance. The sheriff said he had “negotiated” the return of those two birds which the Crosswhites had called and reported stolen. Hmmm..since when do we have “negotiations” regarding STOLEN birds? Generally thieves are arrested ...but maybe in Virginia the law is enforced a bit differently???? Hmmm.
AND…the two missing macaws WERE discussed with the attorney and the AC well prior to the return of the 31 birds. The Crosswhites just didn’t know which two were missing until the 31 were returned…because the people taking the birds couldn’t even identify the species properly…just called them blue and yellow and red and green…smart, right?
Never thought to use the BAND NUMBERS.. which would be the PROFESSIONAL way to identify the birds. But, then…
This is a “predatory rescue” if there ever was one.
AND.. TGF did not enter into the picture until the commonwealth attorney said…You must have a CERTIFIED sanctuary. Well, TGF is certified and is the most respected sanctuary in the US.
AND…the CHOICE of sanctuary was the Crosswhites…that was part of the agreement.
Now, how come all the sanctuary folks are not THRILLED that TGF has received the birds and placed them into roomy flights in nice Florida sunshine?
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Posted by ( birdandhorselady ) on July 27, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Everything I read on an ARF-influenced site is suspect to spin and misinformation. That’s the purpose of drawing people out to see if one can get to the truth of the matter.
However, since those who are defending the so-called VA “sanctuary” seem to be locked into a repeat-loop of insults and half-truths, there’s nothing more to be learned here that wasn’t already known.
I suspect this situation and others like it will come up more and more, and will be scrutinized more closely by more people than in past. By airing all of this, people may come to understand the difference between *true* animal welfare vs. AR-driven anti-breeding, anti-multiple-animal *ownership* (unless of course by a sanctuary that truly “lives off the backs of the birds”).
The charlatans and con artists will eventually be exposed because they cannot help but beat their chests and strut around arrogantly saying how much support they have and how many donations they have gotten (from unaware people), and what *bad people* those who disagree with them are.
There are good sanctuaries, run by *sane, true* animal welfarists, and TGF is one of them. There are *many* small private sanctuaries and rescues (including pet owners and breeders), that are the *real* unsung heroes who truly put the welfare of the animals first and not their own egos and power-building.
The sad thing about those who fall for the crap is that they do not understand the animal welfare is NOT animal rights. Guess those of us who *disagree* with the *using* sanctuary types in this country will have to do a better job of educating JGP, won’t we?
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Posted by ( Janet H ) on July 27, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Hey B&Hlady;. The agreement between the admitted abusers and the court states that the $19,559.41 is to be paid to the Clerk of the Court for the benefit of Orange Veterinary Clinic.
There agreement is on the Supporting Documents page at www.madmacaws.net (which I’m confident you already know but have chosen to ignore).
It is absurd of you to ask the sanctuary for an itemization of the attending vets bill!
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Posted by ( Marc Johnson ) on July 27, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Funny, even when faced with the facts people like birdsandhorses refuse to stop their emotional rants against people who work to make the lives of animals better.
Also interesting is your amazing insight into the Crosswhites reasons for pleading no contest to the charges. I guess it takes one to know one.
You also conveniently forget that it was the state who the money is owed to, CVP will not get a dime despite spending their own money to care for the birds while the court case was determined. Again we see the animal abusers, such as yourself and “birdlover”, repeating unfounded statements in the hope that the few followers you have (who I am sure you count on to NOT investigate the issues for themselves) will “parrot” your lies.
As for the subject of the two missing macaws, perhaps they never existed as they were not there when the state showed up to remove the birds and certainly Matt was not asked to help until way after the initial determination BY THE STATE OF VIRGINIA to remove these birds from their abusive conditions. You can repeat your accusations over if you like but when your followers find out that you have fabricated all the information that your arguments are founded on “untruths” will they still follow you over the proverbial cliff? I hope so!
As for the donations Matt may have received it is a testament to his work that many believe in his integrity and hard work. I think I detect a bit of jealousy on your part, and others in the pet trade, that people behind animal welfare are willing to put their money where their mouth is. I’d bet there are few in the “animal abuse supporters” circles who actually made a donation to the Crosswhites defense fund on the ASA/AFA site.
By the way, have you heard that Foster Parrots just bought a 15 acre site for our new sanctuary? Yes, there are good people out there and a recent study showed that a majority of Americans support animal welfare issues.
Sincerely,
Marc
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Posted by ( birdandhorselady ) on July 27, 2008 at 9:13 am
Marc, everyone knows about you, so I’ll only say that I am SO glad you are not able to make laws to destroy our U.S. Constitutional rights. Comparing animals to people says *exactly* where you stand as a firm “animal rights”, anti-human individual.
The ONLY reason the Crosswhites stipulated to the charges was because they were facing *thousands* of dollars in legal fees (which they could not afford), they were emotionally spent because of their personal problems, and they were being railroaded by the conspirators to take their birds and make money *off the backs of their birds* in donations. What about the 2 tame greenwinged macaws that *disappeared* and weren’t counted in the group? Gifted to a supporter?
Hey, Matt, what happened to the large individual donation made for these macaws to your organization? Everyone would like to see a detailed analysis of the ridiculous almost $20K bill against the Crosswhites AND offsetting donations.
These people had unfortunate life events happen and the jackals took advantage of them—going in for the kill. This is so typical of these seizures under color of law—pick on a vulnerable victim and smash them into the earth. They are backed into a corner, can’t afford to fight and don’t have the emotional reserves to stand up to harrassment, so they plead however authorities want in order to relieve the pain.
You guys are totally unbelievable by those of us who know the *truth* of this situation. The Crosswhites are the victims—and the macaws were the tools to get to them and line your own pockets and feed your sanctimonious, power-hungry egos.
You’ve duped a whole lot of good, animal-loving people who volunteer and believe your crap. Maybe if someone speaks up, they’ll start thinking critically for themselves and wake up from the AR-zombie stupor!
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