PETA India Honours Chengalpattu Forest Department With Hero to Animals Award for Saving Illegally Held Parrots

A Hero to Animals Award is on its way from PETA India to the Chengalpattu Forest Department to thank it for rescuing four parrots, who were being sold online illegally for parrot astrology scams, and for aiding in the arrest of two men allegedly involved.

In the illegal trade, countless birds are torn away from their families and denied everything that is natural and important to them so that they can be sold as “pets” or bogus “fortune tellers” in India’s black market bird trade. Fledglings are often snatched from their nests, while other birds panic as they are caught in traps or nets that can seriously injure or kill them as they struggle to break free. Captured birds are packed into small boxes, and an estimated 60% of them die in transit from broken wings and legs, thirst, or sheer panic. Those who survive face a bleak, lonely life in captivity, suffering from malnutrition, loneliness, depression, and stress.

Birds in cages experience a lifetime #lockdown. Driven mad from loneliness and frustration, caged birds often mutilate themselves: pic.twitter.com/6JyVPWMZ5v

— PETA India (@PetaIndia) March 23, 2022

PETA India advises anyone who has a bird they would like to set free to do so only by working with a local forest department or an animal protection group.

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