Meeting Place For People Interested In Corvids
During the summer months birds require high protein foods, especially during their moult. During cold winter weather birds will benefit from high-energy or high-fat foods, which will help them to maintain their fat reserves and to survive frosty nights. Autumn is the time to change the composition of bird foods offered and perhaps the arrangement of your feeders. It is relatively easy to plan for winter bird feeding.
“Veganism is not just a diet or lifestyle. It is a basic prerequisite for anyone who wishes to start caring seriously about animals, including humans. It is a moral and political commitment to nonviolence.” – Ken Hopes
Let us begin with what a vegan-run corvid sanctuary does not mean. It does not mean that we raise wild birds on a vegan diet. To rescue, rehabilitate and ultimately release wild birds back into their natural home environment, these animals need to be raised or fed on a diet, which resembles their natural diet as closely as possible, otherwise these animals would not stand a chance to survive in the wild. Our rehabilitation programme is based around BVZS “Good Practice Guidelines for Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres” and tailored around the individual needs of the animal concerned, which does not only include their diet, but also an appropriate hospital, rehabilitation and release aviary setup.
Continue reading “What Is A Vegan-Run Corvid Sanctuary?”
It is soon the time of the year again, when social media messages are piling up in your ‘virtual inbox’ advising you to check your garden woodpile for hedgehogs before you start a bonfire. And you certainly should, if you really cannot live without a bonfire wiping out a whole mini ecosystem, annoying your neighbours, causing asthma attacks and polluting the environment.
Canker is caused by a flagellate protozoan and is also known as trichomoniasis, roup or frounce. It is not transmittable to humans or other mammals, but can be caught by other birds that share the same water, eat seed dropped by an afflicted bird, or through direct beak-to-beak contact. The organism Trichomonas gallinae lives in the sinuses, mouth, throat, oesophagus and other organs. This disease occurs worldwide in warm climates or during warm weather.
Being sentient means to have the capacity to have positive and negative experiences, such as feeling pain and pleasure. This applies at the very least to all animals with centralised nervous systems. Sentient beings have their very own unique personalities. We should refer to them as “he/she”, “them/they” or by species. The words “it” or “thing” should not be used to refer to an animal, and “who” is used rather than “that”. If you do not know the gender, then choose one: “he” or “she”. Even if your gender choice is wrong, it is more respectful than “it”. This is an important way of demonstrating the respect we ask others to afford all animals.
Continue reading “Treating Animals With The Respect They Deserve”