BringeroftheRain (August 21, 2008 at 10:18 pm)

Oh, I didn't remember that... Lets just pretend there's no argument please... Lets just make an agreement, you stop saying its animal cruelty, I stop saying that its fair. Please. I hate arguing on the internet. Its so stupid after the first 4 points... to quote a famous picture on the internet. Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics, even if you win, you're still retarded.

militaryqt (August 21, 2008 at 10:16 pm)

when he died, she stated right on the news that he worked 12 hours a day

BringeroftheRain (August 21, 2008 at 9:59 pm)

Also, I did a bit more research, and the cause of the feather plucking was due to the fact that Dr. Pepperburg had to spend less and less time with him, and he had to get used to different trainers. And do you really think he would have been worked for more than 12 hours a day and not have the SPCA find out already and do something about it? Alex is such a famous bird that if it was animal cruelty, they'd have known. I doubt Dr. Pepperberg would've tortured the animal, she LOVED him...

BringeroftheRain (August 21, 2008 at 9:55 pm)

The life expectency of an african grey is 50 years, not 90...

militaryqt (August 21, 2008 at 9:52 pm)

If you handled birds a lot you would know that this is not characteristics of motling. I am not sure you know more of Alex than this video, but Alex passed away at 30 - that's 60 years before his life expectancy... he was worked 12 or more hours a day... that is about 10-11 more hours than any bird should be. They need to still BE birds. Dr. Pepperberg also stated frequently that he was only a college. Birds are not meant to go through that stress and his premature death is sad proof.

dragonomegafluke (August 20, 2008 at 11:01 pm)

Psycho? You're the stupid fuck that's standing up for an ANIMAL on the INTERNET! It all just makes me want to shoot a puppy between the eyes.

apsgo (August 20, 2008 at 10:23 pm)

thats cool i think ill tech that to my african grey timna

BringeroftheRain (August 20, 2008 at 9:24 pm)

Sorry about the typo earlier, but clearly he's just molting. If you look at different videos of him, you see that most of the time his downfeathers were not protruding. Following you're theory of bringing him back just because he asked is true for most birds, but Alex has begun to learn that he can't go back just because he wants to. Thats like a 5 year old child that asks to go home from school for no reason whatsoever, you don't just let him go home.

BringeroftheRain (August 19, 2008 at 7:12 pm)

woops, sorry about that, I meant molting, I got my bird vocabulary confused, I was tired when I wrote that. But they don't test him 24/7, its just the media only shows those sessions. Your interpretation of my simile shows your lack of common sense. They don't test him till he can't take it anymore, they test him until they gather enough data for the day. And btw, I own two parakeets and do have a decent understanding of larger parrots too ;p

militaryqt (August 19, 2008 at 3:32 am)

You just showed that you do not know much about birds, actually. The term "preening: is something that they do everyday to distribute oils throughout their feathers... it does not make their feathers frey or their downfeathers protrude. I beleive the term you were looking for is molting, and no he does not show the characteristics of this, he shows that of plucking, due to stress. A more accurate simile than yours would be to force a child to do homework for hours until they are burned out.