Seized exotic birds relocated

By Bryan McKenzie
Media General News Service
Published: July 24, 2008

Thirty-one macaws seized by animal control officials from an Orange County couple in May will be transferred to a facility in Florida and returned to the couple in 18 months, providing they pay nearly $20,000 in medical bills owed to local veterinarians.
According to an agreement approved earlier this month in Orange County General District Court, Danny Ray Crosswhite, 49, and Sally A. Crosswhite, 58, will regain possession of the birds, all animal cruelty and neglect charges will be dropped and all seizure efforts cease, providing the couple make the payments by Jan. 9.
On May 12, Orange County animal control agents seized the birds from a property at 28190 Old Office Road in Rhoadesville. Animal control officers said the birds were held under plastic tarps, susceptible to weather, and locked in small, rusted-shut cages with mounds of droppings beneath them.
The birds were taken to a Louisa County bird shelter, where they have been housed and fed since the seizure.
Matthew Paulson, a Virginia Beach attorney who represents the Crosswhites, declined to comment on the agreement.
Volunteers who have cared for the macaws since the seizure say many are in poor physical health caused by being fed improper or spoiled foods over a long period of time and receiving inadequate medical care. Many of the birds have responded to human contact, however, said Matt Smith of the Central Virginia Parrot Sanctuary.
According to court documents, the Crosswhites are to receive the birds from the Louisa sanctuary Friday. They are then to transport them to Luv Them Birds, a Florida company that breeds, sells and takes in abandoned birds for later adoption.
According to The Gabriel Foundation, the Crosswhites have agreed to pay $50 per month per bird for boarding fees. There are no provisions in the court agreement that would reimburse the sanctuary for costs it has incurred in caring for the animals.
The sanctuary has received no support from the county or the court.
A national organization, the Denver-based Gabriel Foundation, was contacted by the Crosswhites’ attorneys to find a place to house the birds. Luv Them Birds is owned and operated by Gabriel Foundation board member Kathleen Szabo.
According to the breeders association and The Gabriel Foundation, the Crosswhites lost their home and moved the macaws to a neighboring property under temporary conditions. County animal control officers seized the birds before the Crosswhites could get back on their financial feet.
Animal rights groups have criticized The Gabriel Foundation for its involvement on behalf of the Crosswhites, who admit the birds were once breeding stock but say the birds are now pets. A national exotic bird breeders association set up a legal defense fund for the Crosswhites, with donations accessible through an Internet site, that criticizes Orange County animal control officers and the sanctuary.
Sylvia Wooters has fostered two of the macaws. She said the female will have no contact with humans and the male is still weak from neglect that has damaged his liver and left a large hole in his mouth.
“Once a week he goes to the vet and they anesthetize him, clean out the debris and the pus from the hole and give him an antibiotic shot,” Wooters said. “This happens every Tuesday. If he gets put into a population of a lot of birds and cannot have individual attention, I don’t think he’ll last long.”
Wooters and others at the Louisa sanctuary say many of the macaws are being treated for disease and infection. One bird has had a partial wing amputation because of an infection that could not be stemmed, she said.