GILROY—Dogs and cats need them, elephants, too. Even Vietnamese potbellied pigs have one in San Martin—but a different twist in animal rescue has landed in Gilroy.
It’s sort of a rest home for unwanted, aggressive and old parrots and it’s already home to more than 50 of them, mostly large, vocal and colorful macaws, some from dire circumstances.
It’s called Souza’s Sanctuary, after its founders Christy and her husband, owner of Manuel G. Souza general contracting company.
Since opening their lives and family to the birds, their avian population has soared.
And no, Jimmy Buffett music is not piped into the outdoor aviaries and cages in the sanctuary’s farmyard-like setting in rural Gilroy.
The macaws, and a short list of other feathered critters—green cheek conures, cockatiels, African grey parrots and a pair of lovebirds—share the grounds with five dogs, three cats (all rescue animals), six hens, a rooster, goats, and a mini-donkey.
So how did so many exotic birds end up in a rescue mission for the pirate’s best friend?
The reasons are many, according to Christy Souza, 34, and a mother of two children ages seven and nine.
“We provide a safe, permanent home for birds that are not considered pet quality and cannot be taken as a pet,” said Souza, a south San Jose native who has lived in Gilroy since 2007.
“Some have never been pets, they were only used as breeders and typically a breeder bird would never be held or touched; they just have one job to do, breeding,” she said.
Last weekend, Souza said, “We took in 16 more African greys and eight rose breasted cockatoos. We had to take one to the vet, it was injured en route by another bird and we have one with an injured leg that’ll be going in today as well,” she said.
“We were not prepared for this rescue. We were told they were pets and some of their pets had babies. It was not the situation. We took in all of this person’s breeding stock and they were in very poor condition. It was heartbreaking.”
Others in her flock of primary, crayon-colored charges with names like Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Maxine were pets, but became unmanageable and could not be kept by their owners.
“A lot of people don’t realize how big and mean and angry they can get and how hard they bite. We have one that gets down on the ground and will go after your feet,” Souza said, stepping carefully through a hanging labyrinth of toys, perches and Manzanita branches in the sanctuary’s newly built, aluminum-roofed aviary.
“When owners who can’t handle the macaws sometimes try to re-home them, but it’s hard to do if they are aggressive,” she added.
“They have 2800 pounds of force in their beaks,” and it hurts when they bite, Manuel Souza said.
The rescue couple cannot get close enough to sex the birds, so they don’t know how many of them are male and female, Souza said.
“We have males and females, yes, but we don’t sex them. Sometimes people [who give them] don’t even know,” she added.
As for parrot chicks, they are not on the agenda, Souza said. “We don’t give them any nesting material, and typically they only lay eggs if there is nesting material, a box and pine shavings. I have never had an egg.”
Souza also does rehoming of birds when possible and runs a popular bird boarding service in her home.
So why open your yard and family to dozens of two-pound birds with big, sharp, hooked beaks and who are unfit for loving pethood?
“I have been rescuing animals literally forever,” Souza said. “Then I had a bird fly away three-and-a-half years ago and shortly after that I adopted a bird from a rescue up north and since then I started helping to facilitate adoptions, of any pets,” she said.
When a friend at Petco in Morgan Hill encouraged her to start her own rescue organization, she liked the idea.
With $1,500 in startup money to create the nonprofit, she and Manuel, 40, had one more decision to make: what to rescue?
“I would do any animal, but we agreed on birds because they are easier to contain and clean up after, but we love all animals, Souza said.
On June 2, Souza’s Sanctuary received its California nonprofit status as a 501(c)3 organization. The rescue is online at facebook.com/souzasanctuary.
And last month, the parrot sanctuary became an official Petco Foundation Partner, Souza said. That means the national pet chain “will help fundraise for me and I can set up a table [at their stores] and talk to customers, solicit donations and do bird care classes and adoptions, just like dog and cat rescues.”
For more information on Souza’s Sanctuary, or to donate, see them on Facebook athttp://on.fb.me/1GtacnG, or find them athttp://bit.ly/1RrvkRI orhttp://bit.ly/1LuaPF3, or call (408) 896-6711.
