Pet owners facing a tough time caring for exotic birds

KOCHI: For pet sellers and owners, life hasn’t been so smooth during the lockdown as taking care of exotic breeds of pets mainly birds that cost over `1 lakh isn’t a child’s play. Nettoor-native Mohammed Basith, who runs his firm Pet Hive, was forced to shift the majority of the animals and birds from his shop to home within three to four days of the lockdown.

“It was a challenging time for us. The first few days of the lockdown really tested our nerves as we were clueless on the arrangements to be made for the care of birds which need specific kind of feed and medicine. Rearing exotic breeds of pets isn’t that easy as they are so delicate. For the first few days, we opened the shops daily to clean the cages and feed the animals. Later, we shifted the animals to our homes,” Basith said.

As the lockdown got extended, a collective of pet lovers/owners was formed in the state with over 1,000 pet lovers as members to supply medicines and feed. “The price of a Macaw bird starts at `1 lakh while an Amazon parrot costs around `40,000. We also have to make special arrangements for pets like hamsters and cats,” he said adding that the government’s decision to allow pet shops to function from Monday has come as a big relief. “We also provided counselling to pet owners on procedures to be followed for taking care of the pets during the lockdown,” he added.

Martin K J of Palluruthy, who has been running a pet shop for the last 20 years, said the shop owners have been struggling to take care of the pets during the lockdown period. “There is a proper routine for caring the pets. We ensured that the shops were opened daily for the animals to be fed and cleaned. If we don’t clean the shop for a single day, there is high chance of the animals getting infection.

Though there wasn’t any sale, we have to keep the shop open for at least six hours for proper air circulation, Martin said adding that initially there was a shortage of feed for the birds.Nazeef K A, of Beaks International, which supplies imported feeds for exotic birds, said the collective of pet lovers did their best to ensure supply of feed and medicine for the pets. “We coordinated with the police for delivering the feeds and medicine at the door steps of the pet owners,” he added.