Lack of Understanding 2: Neglect by Choice.

[aciesanima]

A repost, again, from my Tumblr in response to this post.

This is Custard.

I bought him for a ridiculous price from the local pet store who kept him in a tiny 30cmx30cmx50cm cage with four other birds. In the picture you can see his tail, ragged and with injured feather shafts from that atrocious living condition. If you know your stuff, you'll note the feather pins sticking from his wings- both of which were trimmed to the coverts, I kid you not. Had I the money I would have bought every bird in the place. I took Custard.

I had Custard for barely over six months.

In that time he blossomed under proper care- he proved to be a wonderfully intelligent, outgoing tiel with a fantastic capability to mimic and 'mix' his sounds. He would in fact 'DJ' to practice them: he'd hold a foot up to his beak and talk as if holding a mic. In a matter of weeks he learned to say "Morning" and a contact whistle. He remains, to this day, one of the most inspirational little birds I've ever had the pleasure of living with and caring for.

Six months on, my life hemorrhaged. After trying to rebuild from my parent's sudden and emotionally messy divorce, my father and I decided to move to our current roost to ensure my sister's mental recovery. The move transplanted us five hours from our current location and my father and I completed it in less then two weeks. And entire house, six years of living, moved in a fortnight by only he and I.

I was worried Custard, in his youth and still relatively poor health, might not take to the sudden change. He settled in like nothing had ever happened and would wake me, every morning, from the foot of my bed with his latest 'mix' of sounds and words.

At that time, my school went on its annual ski trip. After being undecided as to whether I would go or not, Dad encouraged me to. Later I'd look back on this as one of the bitterwseet decisions of my life: that trip gave me a huge boost in confidence and gave me time away from the then emotionally stressful environment of home. It would also be the death of Custard.

We had moved in with my father's cousin who we regarded as an Aunty. She had recently lost her partner and was still processing her own grief. But in no way does that excuse her for doing what she did.

I was away for a total of five days. Before I left, I cleaned Custard's cage completely, a scrub out and refit of all his perches and feed/water dishes. I put in a new seed bell to keep him entertained and moved his swing about for a bit of variety. I explained to Dad and my sister his usual rituals, how much to feed him and how to go about swapping out his food/water.

My Aunty would have no part in it. Before I left she said to me, to my face: "Give him enough food for the week, because I'm not going to take care of him for you. He's your responsibility. Think about that."

As it would turn out, my father would be called away for the rest of the month to settle the ongoing legal battle with my mother and my sister would be faced with a rather vicious bullying incident, meaning that whilst I was gone it was only she or my sister to deal with Custard. My sister tried, she really did. But most days, she'd come home, eat an early and cry herself to sleep.

My Aunty, true to her word, did not feed or otherwise care for Custard. When i returned, she handed me his frozen, lifeless body wrapped in a plastic bag with a look of "I told you so."

It doesn't matter 'who owns' it. If the animal is in your living space, if it's been entrusted to you IT'S YOUR JOB TO CARE FOR IT TO THE BEST OF YOUR ABILITY.

Comments

[redsixwing]

Ohhh, poor baby D:

What a completely horrible thing to do. "I told you so" generally isn't appropriate anyway, and to neglect an animal to death after disclaiming responsibility for her own actions...

I completely agree with your last two sentences.

'Scuse me, I gotta go scritch my birds now. ;_;