Providing life-changing care and environment for special needs avian species in Minnesota.
Hey @Walmart and @Walter Goggins— using parrots in advertising may seem fun and eye-catching, but it normalizes the idea that parrots are entertaining, desirable household animals rather than highly intelligent wild beings with complex lifelong needs.
What campaigns like this do not show is the reality rescues and sanctuaries face every day: parrots suffering from severe psychological distress, self-mutilation, feather destruction, chronic rehoming, abandonment, and decades spent in sanctuary care after families realize they were never prepared for life with a wild animal.
Parrots can live 30–80+ years, form extraordinarily complex social bonds, and require levels of space, flight, enrichment, and social interaction that captivity cannot provide. When parrots are portrayed as colorful accessories or marketing tools, impulsive demand increases, and rescues are left to absorb the consequences.
The photos shared alongside this post are not rare cases. They are the hidden reality behind the commercialization of parrots.
We urge Walmart and Walter Goggins to reconsider the use of parrots in advertising campaigns and their personal involvement with animals in these campaigns. How you portray animals has an impact on public perception, consumer demand, and ultimately animal welfare.
Parrots deserve to be respected as living, feeling individuals, not props.
#MAARS #parrots #sanctuary #cockatoos #nonprofit
Today at MAARS: Pippen, Bubbles and Woodstock wait for their morning fresh food delivery.
