Your generosity and support is what empowers MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue to help birds that, unwanted, injured, ill and/or timed out in shelters, would otherwise be killed. Here's the story of just one little bird that YOU helped to rescue. Her name is Feathers.
Feathers was introduced to MickaCoo this way:
Dear Friends,
A friend of my son dumped their white dove on us this summer when they went on vacation. My son tells me the bird is poorly cared for at his home, and that his friend hopes we will keep this bird for them. I don’t want to keep this bird. (I think they named him “Feathers.”) His cage is too small, he can’t fly, and there is something wrong with his feet since he seems to stand rather than perch. I would really like to transfer him to a rescue organization such as yours where he his health can be properly evaluated, he can be put in a proper cage, and outplaced to a good home.
When I saw Feathers' picture, I realized that she was not a dove but rather a little homing pigeon (the kind used for "wedding dove releases"). As always, we were overfull but a foster volunteer stepped up to take little Feathers in and so the handoff was arranged.
Feathers arrived scared, depressed and with some motor control issues. She needed a very quiet and simple environment and a lot of patience and TLC. Getting what she needed has made a big difference for little Feathers.
Here's a recent report from Jaclyn, Feathers' foster mom:
I just couldn't help but share with you what a wonderful turn around teeny Feathers has made. She was starting to come out of her shell when I visited you, but now it seems she has fully blossomed. I’ve never seen a bird’s personality change so much. At first she was very hard to read and wouldn’t make a peep. I didn’t know if she was scared, sad, had neurological problems or what to make of her. But now she’s full of confidence and character! Just a glance in her direction and her wings twitch with excitement while she bows her head. She does this with both Nik and I. And she has the cutest little grunts when she’s getting her head scratched. When she first started making sounds her voice was so tiny and scratchy, it was adorable but a little pathetic. Now her voice is louder and more consistent. She is so gentle and sweet, and I’m just so happy to see these changes in her. She is evidence of how unique each bird is, and animal for that matter, and the potential each one has. She will make a wonderful pet, no doubt!
Your support is what enables MickaCoo to do what we do. We thank you! Feathers thanks you! Your generosity makes a life-saving difference.
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MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue has had both a very challenging and very promising year. We are getting ever more support and leadership from volunteers and seeing more outreach and placement efforts from Bay Area shelters. In 2012, MickaCoo’s foster volunteers saved more than 200 lives by caring for and housing pigeons and doves when no one else would. We've placed more than 100 birds with carefully screened adopters and counseled on behalf of the welfare of hundreds more.
The challenge is meeting the overwhelming demand for our service. We need more adopters, more fosters, more funding. What we are doing is valuable and meaningful and we are committed to becoming even more effective at doing this “impossible” work. We’re closing an historic gap in animal rescue. We are challenging indifference with compassion and changing the world for the better. You make the difference. Thank you.
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Thanks to your support, MickaCoo is able to help pigeons and doves in all kinds of ways. We save birds' lives by taking in the sick, injured and/or timed out from shelters like like Elliot & Buster. Elliot, a sick baby king pigeon found in a parking lot with his friend Buster, was getting worse rather than better despite the shelter's efforts to save him. He was scheduled to be euthanized but instead we made room for him (and Buster) and took him into MickaCoo's foster care. He was so weak that we feared it would be hospice but Elliot responded and slowly, slowly began to improve. Today he is a very healthy and happy bird, still with his friend Buster, and fostered by the kind woman who found them stranded in that parking lot. You can read their rescue story and see lots of pictures here.
There are more stories than I have room to include here but, by clicking on these links you can see some of our recent adoptions, more rescues and get a sense of our ever-changing waiting list. Without your support, these birds wouldn't have a chance.
We also spend a great deal of time outreaching to the public to raise awareness and develop potential volunteers, adopters, donors and allies. In August, we hosted our first ever stand alone MickaCoo Adoption and Fundraiser event: We Can Be Heroes! in Tiburon. It was a wonderful success and we made new friends for pigeons and doves, raised funds and placed long-overdue-for-adoption Lola & Luigi with their forever family. You can see the story and pictures here. A lot of our time is spent advocating for pigeons and doves at pet fairs and adoption events throughout the Bay Area. In just the past few months, we've participated in Humane Education programs in Santa Cruz and Novato and attended adoption events in San Jose, Cupertino, Kensington, San Francisco, Novato, Berkeley, Carmichael and San Rafael (to name a few) plus we've gotten rescued pigeons on TV in Rohnert Park and several articles in print media.
Another big development has been the creation and launch of our own website- www.PigeonRescue.org. We are thrilled to have this new platform with which to help pigeons and doves and we're working hard to integrate all the key info, links and content that's needed.
Your donations make all this life-saving and mind-changing work possible. Please stay connected by subscribing to our newsletter and, if you're on Facebook, you can keep up with news as it happens by liking our page. And we would LOVE to have you join us in person- either as a volunteer or just for a visit- check out MickaCoo's upcoming events.
Thank you very much for your generosity and support. We are very moved by your investment in our effort to make this a more compassionate and humane world.
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Vote for MickaCoo's Gypsy & Milkshake Mike!
When baby homing pigeon Gypsy was facing euthanasia at an animal shelter, MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue saved her. She needed supportive and foster care to recover and she has blossomed into a beautiful married pigeon lady. Her mate, a huge king pigeon named Milkshake Mike (because he trembled with fear in his shelter cage) was also facing death before he became a MickaCoo foster pigeon. Now, they have each other and you can see how devoted each is to the other. They want to live. They deserve compassion. And your help is what allows MickaCoo to provide it when no one else will.
Please help MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue continue this work for the birds that are timing out at shelters and still need to be rescued.
Vote for Gypsy & Milkshake Mike in GlobalGiving's Photo Contest and encourage your friends and family to vote too! (One vote per person, voting ends 8/15). MickaCoo could win a much-needed $1000 and extra promotion from GlobalGiving!
Please copy and paste this message into an email to your friends-
On behalf of the birds and MickaCoo's volunteers and adopters, I send you my heartfelt thanks for all that you do to support us.
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You are already making a life-saving difference for birds that, without your support, would be routinely killed in shelters. Your support means birds like little Opal, so sick and brave and doomed at a shelter can be cared for and restored to health and adopted into wonderful homes (shown above in Before & After MickaCoo photos).
MickaCoo relies on your donations to continue this effort and we are in urgent need of your support. We can save, on average, one bird for every $250 donated. This Wednesday, your donation can earn an additional 30% bonus through GlobalGiving and help ensure that MickaCoo can help the next little Opal that needs us.
This Wednesday June 13th is Bonus Match Day at GlobalGiving and, coincidentally, Pigeon Appreciation Day!
Please celebrate these smart, loyal birds with a donation to MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue. Online donations made to MickaCoo at GlobalGiving.org on 6/13 will earn a 30% matching bonus up to $1,000 per donor until matching funds run out! (There is $75,000 available and funds usually run out by midday.)
Your generous support on behalf of these overlooked, under-served birds is what makes the impossible happen for them. If you are able, please make an online donation to MickaCoo this Wednesday, 6/13. (The campaign starts at midnight EST so 9 PM on Tuesday 6/13 for those of us on the West Coast.) And please- share this request with your friends and family. Your compassion is contagious.
Thank you. Truly. Your support is incredibly appreciated.
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Project Reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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