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I have now been rescuing for over 12 years- and it all began in a top floor flat in Edinburgh- with one of my first ever rescues, Pedro (photo of him in the comments)- whom I still have today!
A lot has changed in the time I have been rescuing, and I thankfully am a lot better set up than I was when I lived in Edinburgh!!
As the years go by, more and more people find out about me, and so I naturally get busier and busier as the years go by. Last year was my busiest yet, and at one point in the summer, I had over 200 birds in at one time. I am not going to lie, it was a very very busy time for me- and I put every waking minute into the birds I had in. I was absolutely exhausted, and for the first time in all the years I have rescued, I had to temporarily close my doors to new admissions. There just wasn't enough time in the day, and the financial impact of having so many birds in, was considerable.
As much as I would love this to be the case, sadly, a gofundme fundraiser cannot give me back any time, but what it can do, is to lessen the financial burden/impact of running my rescue, and the money raised will enable me to keep doing what I know and love.
Everyone who knows me will know that I do not live a life of luxury. In fact, my way of life revolves solely around making sure that my pets, and my rescues, are cared for in the very best way, and so that they want for nothing. They get everything they could possibly want and need, and are spoilt rotten. I would never hesitate in spending money on my animals, but would begrudge myself buying much more than a loaf of bread for my weekly food shop! (I do have a new years resolution to be healthier this year, and so I will be spending more on my food this year lol!). But for me, the animals always have, and always will, come first.
I know everyone is struggling at the moment, with the cost of living crisis, but if there is anyone out there that can spare even a few pounds, I would be so truly grateful for any donation.
I have made a spreadsheet of most of the things that I could think of, that I pay out for my rescues, and so that yearly total, is what I have based my fundraiser target on.
I don't just get birds in that are with me for short periods of time- in fact, the vast majority of the birds are much longer term than a week or two. And sometimes, there are the birds that are not able to be released.. some may be disabled and not able to be returned to the wild, some may be too friendly, or other reasons too- and of course, when a pigeon lives over 10 years... my food bills for my residents just keeps going up and up!
My three incubators have been in constant use since I got them- the cost of these incubators is over £250 each to buy. I could really do with a bigger incubator, but this will have to wait as the cost of them is upwards of £600 for one!!
I’m so lucky that where I live, I have more than enough outdoor space for my aviaries and sheds etc. I have a stone outbuilding where I have my quarantine area of cages, I have my kitchen for the babies in incubators etc, I have a big shed for my permanent resident pigeons and pet pigeons like Pedro, I have walk in aviaries with shed attached and I have another walk in aviary which I use for soft releases. I’ve got some other outdoor parrot style cages for other shorter term releases.
So many people know of me by word of mouth, family and friends, veterinary practices, Facebook groups etc. and the more birds you take in, the more people you speak to etc.. so the more you get in!
I try to only take the birds I am experienced with- and I will always say that pigeons and doves are my specialty. I’ve had literally 1000s of pigeons through my doors- and I wish that were an exaggeration! Last year, I saw seagulls, geese, ducks, crows, jackdaws, owls, magpies, chickens, blackbirds, various tits and finches, sparrows, house martins, (and I'm sure I have forgotten plenty), come through my doors.
I work full time to pay for what I do with rescuing the birds. I don’t have a nice clean car, or beautiful trendy clothes, I scrape by to make sure that the birds and animals I have, get everything they need.
I never ask or demand that people give me a donation- it’s not in my nature to do so. But I am setting up this fundraiser to help towards ongoing running costs of what I do. Some very kind people will ask if I have a donation page, and so I can send people in this direction if they ask in future.
Sometimes people do very kindly donate- but I would say that honestly, it’s probably 1 in 5 or 6 people that do.
A lot of the time, I think people think I get paid for what I do, or get lots of donations, when the truth is, I do this totally self funded.
I get through 100kg of seed a month at least… that’s £100 in seed! That might not sound like a lot of money, but to me it is! That’s not including any of the food I have to buy for the corvids (a lot more expensive to feed a crow that it is a pigeon). The hand rearing formula I buy is £40 for 5kg.. the medications I buy… the fuel I use to collect birds… the electricity for heating/lighting etc. It all adds up!
If every person that gave me a bird gave me £1, it would make such an enormous difference to me. If people don’t want to, or can’t donate money, I absolutely understand, but even donating a kitchen roll or can of sweetcorn would help!
I’ve ranted on long enough- my apologies!
So please, if you are in a position to donate anything to me, then please do.
I’m not asking for £100s, or even £10…. Even £1 would be so greatly appreciated!!
Well done if you have got to the end!
Thankyou so much!
