Last week, my husband was taking our dog, Brody, for a walk. During their daily walk, a gorgeous blue and yellow macaw was spotted wandering around in the backyard of his home.
We’ve seen and heard this macaw many times prior to this day but was always attached to a perch in the backyard. Not this day. He/she was leading the way from the home and walking toward a side street in front of the home.
It was last Saturday, August 8th at 11 AM, when my husband, Ed, knew he had to help the bird because he feared for its safety. There was no one home and the parrot was freely walking toward the street. This beautiful creature has its wings clipped; therefore, it cannot fly. He was afraid the bird was going to get hit by a car. He kept leading the bird back toward the house each time it veered toward the street.
No one else seemed to care about the welfare of this macaw. No other neighbors did anything but knew the bird was outside for a day and a half. They also knew there was no more food or water for the macaw which is what he was searching for.
The man to whom the bird belongs was no where to be found and the truth was he wasn’t home. My husband called me to get the number of our local shelter, the Animal Rescue League of Berks County, to get help in this matter.
He proceeded to call the shelter. His frustration began to grow when no one would answer the phone. He heard an outgoing message which told the caller to dial different extension numbers to the one closely fits the need of the caller. He dialed that number and still another outgoing message. He repeated the calls six times with no one ever answering any phone at the shelter! He also dialed 0 for the operator as indicated in the outgoing message and no one answered that either.
Ed and I were preparing to leave for a trip that same day and he was desperately trying to get help for the macaw since nobody else would get involved.
The shelter is open on Saturdays from 11 AM – 4 PM according to their website.
Ed called the police as directed by one of the outgoing messages. He didn’t call 911 but the non-emergency police phone line and told them the situation.
The police arrived with a woman to help with the bird. They were able to get the bird inside the house.
The owner had been taken to an area hospital for an undisclosed problem. Since the police had taken over, Ed left the scene.
Ed was so upset over the fact that a shelter whose mission is to help animals in the county did not have a live person to whom to speak with the many repeated phone calls he made.
How does a shelter help in an emergency situation when no one will answer their phones? They were open so someone should have been able to answer the phone or through one of the extensions.
While I understand they are busy as all shelters are, I find this way of handling calls inexcusable during normal operating hours. This reminds me of another local shelter, the Humane Society of Berks County, who began this way of handling incoming calls with nothing but outgoing messages telling you to leave a message many years ago. I know how much people hated this way and now it seems the Animal Rescue League is leading a similar path. I hope not.
We hope this is an isolated incident and not common practice. If it is, there will be many more frustrated people.
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They can’t.
Someone should be able to answer the phone at least one of those times. I don’t know. Doesn’t sound quite right to me.
I hate when shelters return calls. You have to keep calling repeatedly. Then they still won’t call. What is up with that?
Did your husband leave a message for them to call you back? They should have an emergency number.