Things to be aware of when looking for your bird
Warning: Some of the member feedback below may be upsetting but we think it is best that you are as informed as possible
General
- Unless the person is a bird lover they may not know how to contain and look after a found bird, so they will try and pass it on to someone who does
- It may take a while for your bird to get comfortable with the finder and start saying the things it can be identified by
- Most councils do not have a holding facility for found birds
- If a family falls in love with your bird it will be harder to get it back
If you bird is microchipped
- Many people do not know that a bird can be scanned for a microchip
- Microchips help but do not guarantee that you will get your bird back, they can fail, migrate and can be removed
- Vets are not obligated to scan for a microchip and not all of them have access to the multitude of microchip databases
- Members have reported that microchip registries do not always share information with each other, and as a result, pets have been re-homed with an up to date microchip
- Animal rescue organisations may not verify chip details for surrendered bird
WHAT TO DO?
- Do not rely on microchips completely, but make sure your chip details are up to date using our help page asap
- Keep your physical search up, keep posting flyers everywhere you can and doing letter drops to neighbours mailboxes
- Do not trust phone descriptions, they can very dramatically, and no one knows your dog better than you
- Look at bird for sale or adoption as well as found ones when browsing the net
- Do not miss vital information, right now check your email Spam/Junk box again and your 'Message Requests' on Facebook just in case
Fortunately there are lots of good people out there that want to help. Many will go the extra mile to make sure your bird is safe and well, and will try everything for you and your bird to get reunited asap. Stay positive, but do not fully rely on the system to bring you your bird back. Keep searching!
