Red-tailed Hawks should not be allowed to be kept in a shack that serves as a poor excuse of an aviary, in a small cage where they can barely fly for a few feet and their perch is situated such that they can barely even stand up straight.
Allow me to explain. Over Memorial Day weekend I went up to Garrett County. I went to Deep Creek Lake state park. We walked around for a bit. Then I saw a sign that said "Aviary." Now, as anyone who has been around me for about a day has no doubt picked up, I really, really like birds. So of course I ran towards that sign to see what that aviary was like. Lo and behold...we saw a tiny, rude hut. Extending from it were two tiny enclosements for holding birds, much like the ones you see at a zoo's bird house except much, much smaller. And within one of them, barely moving, stood not one but two hawks, standing in their miserable dwelling as if in a torpor. The fenced walls were littered with bits of fluff and down, as if the birds had thrown themselves against the walls in repeated, futile efforts to escape.
How can any animal, let alone ones as majestic as the hawks, be kept in such horrid conditions? In a state park, no less? Hawks deserve to be free. If this isn't animal cruelty, then I don't know what is.
(Note: I took pictures. They may be added, if I can figure out how to get them off my phone.)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
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