The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has removed two parrots from a Gordon’s Bay apartment after securing a warrant, following weeks of unresolved animal welfare concerns and repeated non-compliance by the owner.
The case began earlier this month when the SPCA received a cruelty complaint regarding the condition and treatment of two parrots housed at the residential property.
Initial inspections by inspectors immediately raised red flags, including visible feather loss and behavioural signs associated with distress.
According to the SPCA, the owner was issued with clear warnings and instructions to obtain urgent veterinary care from a qualified exotic bird specialist.
Despite these directives, compliance did not follow. Inspectors attempted multiple follow-ups through phone calls, return visits and written notices, but access to the birds was at times refused, and communication eventually ceased altogether.
With no evidence that the required veterinary care had been provided and inspectors deliberately denied access to assess the birds’ welfare, the SPCA moved to take legal action.
Inspector Lwazi Ntungele successfully applied for a warrant under the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962, read with Regulation 468, authorising inspectors to enter the premises and remove the birds to prevent further suffering.
Following their seizure, the parrots were transported to an independent exotic bird veterinarian for urgent assessment. The findings, the SPCA says, pointed to long-term welfare compromise rather than recent or accidental injury.
Veterinary examinations revealed that one of the birds, a macaw, was suffering from severe feather-destructive behaviour, extensive feather loss and signs of chronic anxiety.
Diagnostic imaging showed an old wing fracture that had healed incorrectly, suggesting a serious injury that had never been treated.
Additional findings included an overgrown beak, trauma consistent with inadequate housing and evidence of previous air sac injury.
The second bird, an umbrella cockatoo, was found to have widespread feather loss, permanent damage to feather follicles and clinical signs of chronic stress. Radiographs revealed airsacculitis, degenerative joint disease and other indicators of prolonged welfare compromise.
The attending veterinarian noted that birds are instinctively adept at masking illness, adding that the extent of the pathology observed could only have developed over a significant period.
In both cases, the conditions were deemed incompatible with acceptable standards of avian care and consistent with chronic neglect.
Despite intervention, neither bird responded to treatment. The decision was subsequently made to humanely euthanise both parrots to prevent further suffering.
The SPCA has since laid criminal charges of animal cruelty against the owner under the Animals Protection Act.
The case remains under investigation by the South African Police Service and is expected to be placed before court, where the evidence gathered and veterinary findings will be presented.
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Picture: SPCA
