I remember being in the hospital back in May of 2009 for kidney surgery. I watched Animal Planet most of the time while I was there, recovering, and I remember watching an episode of Animal Cops and they had rescued more than 900 cats from this man's home. The man was currently living there in a house that was complete trashed! There was urine and other wastes around the home. The cats were scared, hiding...there were dead kittens, sick adult cats and baby kitties...inbreeding...it was a disaster! Most of the cats had to be put down, because there was simply too many to hold at the shelter. I felt just awful. I felt so sorry for all of those innocent animals. They called the man who mistreated all of these felines a "cat-collector." The thing is...I had no idea there was a such thing as "keet-collectors."

I was reading an article online about a woman in Germany who started out with four keets, two males and two females. Each pair had babies and from then on the population of keets in her house just started growing out of control. When the Animal Rescue League caught up with her, they removed over 1,000 keets from her apartment. Yes, APARTMENT! The parakeets were laying in garbage, their own waste, and there were brand new babies that were too cold and died, because they did not have appropriate nesting boxes. Most keets were inbreeding and over 1/3 of the females were egg bound, which most of the females were too young to be breeding anyway. They called this woman a "keet collector."

It is so sad that some animals in this world do not get a fair, happy life. It makes me wish that I could do more, but...I know that there is nothing I can do to stop all abusive owners. I say if you can't take up the responsibilty for an animal, then don't bother getting one, because the chances are that they are better off with someone else.

: [

im sorry but i think im gonna get sick now

Yes it is tragic for the animals, but I feel for the collector also. They are truly ill and don't want to be that way.

Yah agree with all,

if you get lots of birds you better play with them if i got 4 birds trust me i would play with them! lol,


_______________
J.M.D

Yeah. You just have to decide when to say "enough is enough." You're absolutely right, JMD. Play with and be responsible for all your pets. You can't just get bored with them. You're responsible for a living, breathing thing, like a baby...only different. :]

I think I'd like to have five keets someday. Five seems like a respectable number.

Unfortunately these hoarders can't decide when enough is enough. They are wired different than most of us. They don't want to be that way, and that is what is so sad.

What enjoyment could you possibly get from having so many that you can't take care of them. I have 8 total right now but at one time I had 14. Way too many. I have found homes for 6 of them and another one in the works. I would like to get down to no more than 5. They are so much fun to watch and interact with but even 8 is a lot of work. I love them so its worth it for me. Like is says in the book "The little Prince", "Once you tame something you are responsible for it."
All life is a resposibility. We should never take it lightly!

Yes, BLR. It's a shame. I bet they want to do what's best for all of those little birds, because a lot of keets need homes, but then it becomes too much.

Wow, Nana! 14! That's a lot of love! Haha! I'm glad you found homes for most of them though. All keets deserve a good home. I have one little keet and even he needs a lot of attention. He is a big responsiblity and he is a big part of my life.

I have seen this phenomanom in the horse world as well. The lady thinks she is "saving" them. But they are suffering with the poor living conditions. She is currently being watched and monitored by the local animal control, but she does not understand their intefering.