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From: linco@eng.umd.edu (Sam C. Lin)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: INDOOR: Wing clipping
Message-ID: <1991Feb15.233832.9126@eng.umd.edu>
Date: 15 Feb 91 23:38:32 GMT
References: <3217@legs.UUCP> <1991Feb14.165445.23866@eng.umd.edu> <27BC1320.3C83@intercon.com>
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In article <27BC1320.3C83@intercon.com> ooblick@intercon.com (Mikki Barry) writes:
>In article <1991Feb14.165445.23866@eng.umd.edu> linco@eng.umd.edu (Sam C. Lin) writes:
>>So clipping should be considered on a case by case basis.  My belief
>>is that it is cruel to clip a bird unless it is clearly going to hurt
>>itself otherwise.  This argument that birds will fly away is a crock
>>of cow turds.  If you are too careless to keep your windows and doors
>>closed when the bird is out, maybe you are too careless to own one.
>>And taking a bird outside even with clipped wings is stupid if the
>>bird is of a species that flies particularly well. Any cockatiel with
>>clipped wings can easily catch the slightest breeze, and disappear in
>>seconds.
>
>In my opinion, this is a highly simplistic attitude.  Accidents DO happen.
>If bird ownership is restricted to people who never make mistakes and never
>have accidents, nobody would own birds.  Having an opinion is one thing,
>but berating other people's opinions is not useful to this discussion.
>The fact is, accidents DO happen, and birds DO fly away.  Every week, at
>least two birds are listed as "lost" in my local bird shop.  Perhaps these
>people were "too careless", but more likely they made a mistake.
>
>*My* belief is that it is cruel NOT to clip wings unless you know for
>a fact that you are so perfect that you could never make such a mistake,
>AND you know for a fact that your bird will never harm itself flying in
>the house.  All my pets are clipped.  

Considering birds on a case-by-case basis is *not* a simplistic
attitude.  A simplistic attitude is to assume that all birds are too
stupid to handle not having their wings clipped.  Birds do not have
arms so that they may fly; taking away their ability to fly is taking
away one of their greatest enjoyments.  More importantly, as I mentioned in
my previous posting, my own experience is that some birds HARM
THEMSELVES when they have clipped wings,  by attempting to fly, and
then losing their breath and crashing.  My lovebird, whose wings I
clipped recently, managed to fly 7 feet upwards, run out of breath,
and fall, bouncing off her cage, a table, and onto the floor!  She was
very lucky not to have broken any bones, especially her neck!
Therefore, *IMHO*, clipping birds indiscriminately can sometimes cause
them unnecessary danger.  There are far more dangers in a house that a
bird is exposed to besides flying into windows and getting loose
outside.  A bird owner must carefully consider the circumstances of
each bird in order to decide to clip or not to clip.  Mind you, I
agree that clipping is called for in some circumstances.

Sam Lin