Corporate Connecticut Magazine

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”- Albert Einstein

“Pumpkin” a blue and gold macaw handled by Rena Fox, owner of Bird Supply of New Hampshire checks out a toy made by A Unique Idea of Michigan called “Leather Butterflies” on site at Twin Leather of Brockton, Mass.

Twin Leather in Brockton, Mass., was founded by Richmond and Raymond Castano, twin brothers, in 1949. The company made leather soles.

Brockton was known throughout the world as the epicenter for shoe making (and leather). (Historical note: The U.S. government ordered more than half of the boots for Union soldier during the Civil War from Brockton manufacturers.) Related businesses to feed area shoe manufacturers grew, then the trade waned as the industry gradually moved business overseas.

Twin Leather has diversified, shed unprofitable lines, retained the knowledge and contacts. Today, the company does specialty contract cutting, manufactures washers and gaskets, novelty items and does sole making, in addition to the Bird Toy Supplies line.

The latter was sparked by chance and good timing.

Zoo animal keepers tracked down Rich Castano, owner, due to the company reputation for creativity and quality.

“A local bird toy manufacturer kept coming in and buying all our vegetable-tanned leather scraps, that resulted from miscut leather washers,” said Castano. “Curious to what was being done with them, I found out the answer was toys. Bird toys. This came at a good time because our shoe finding trade was dwindling. The vegetable-tanned leather is a pretty important element for bird toy makers.”

He notes that an alternative process for leather curing involved chrome, which is highly toxic to pets.

Toy makers trust Castano for a steady, safe supply. Now his company ships leather components in all sorts of shapes and sizes and also offers kits. Clients hail from the Netherlands and England to France and Australia as well as toy makers throughout North America.

“We’ve been on the Web for years. People find us by word of mouth and referrals,” he said.

The resulting bird toys are eye-catching (even to humans) with a bewildering array of colorful knobs and fruit-like growths, very much like three-dimensional art.

With more than 500 toy-related customers, Castano is also plugged in to a network of parrot rescue organizations, bird clubs, toy makers, and parrot festival organizers.

Castano will donate 10 to 20 pounds of leather for the cost of shipping to established avian rescue nonprofits.

Who knew that birds and the people who love them could create such a niche?

Jungle Roamer to Static Suburbs

Nature created birds to fly. Humans desire birds for companionship and beauty.

To the uninitiated, the beautiful birds with an ability to talk are a novelty, an entertaining “thing.” To those who know and love birds, these highly intelligent creatures are lifetime companions, each is an individual. Requirements for a healthy happy bird are similar to growing a well-rounded human - regular interaction, quality nutrition, attention to hazards and regular time to play.

There is a learning curve in dealing with parrots and their related feathered kin.

Talking to bird lovers throughout Connecticut, a name keeps popping up - “talk to Dr. Giddings.”

Robert F. Giddings, DVM, ABVP Avian, Kensington Bird and Animal Hospital LLC, to be precise.

Dr. Giddings has been a vet for more than four decades. He is passionate about birds and is an ornithologist. He spend his 16 first years as a large animal vet, treating horses and cows throughout New Haven County. When dairy farms were being sold for development, and the landscape changed to more suburban, he spent more time traveling to get to fewer and fewer clients. In 1988, he left the Cheshire business and launched his own practice. (Editor’s note: As of June 2009, Dr. Giddings has retired; the practice is now owned by Dr. Theresa Cianciolo DVM, who was Giddings’s first intern.)

“Some 750 bird clients came with me,” he recalled. “I had built my avian clients and they followed me.”

The practice is diverse, seeing dogs, and cats and exotics as well as birds. An avian vet, in general, is someone who is willing to treat birds. A “board-certified avian veterinarian” is a doctor with certification from the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP).

The ABVP examines six years of “significant avian practice experience or a formal residency plus scientific papers, plus a rigorous series of examinations.” All must be documented.

“Bird physiology and anatomy is very different than other animals,” said Dr. Giddings. “Just like you would not take dog or cat to a horse doctor, we think it’s pretty important that your doctor likes and knows birds,” said Giddings, who owns the practice and employs four doctors, members of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV). Two are board certified.

Dr. Giddings also serves as a business consultant. A recent client was a dentist in Vernon who constructed a aviary-atrium in a new building for his practice. The recommendation was to choose smaller birds and not to overfill the airy space.

“A parrot can be thought of as a perpetual two or three year old child,” said Dr. Giddings. ”They may live longer than their human owners. Bird rescue came into being in the 25 years since birds have become popular. Birds are my passion for life. But a bird is not for everyone.”

He recommends plenty of research to anyone considering acquiring a bird as a pet.

“Talk to people who have the kind of bird you think you are interested in, find a bird club, or speak with an avian veterinarian. Not a pet store, they aren’t necessarily going to do what is right. Narrow your choices down. Think how much noise can you tolerate, how much time can you spend with your bird? Do you want a bird that is pretty, what I call a bird ornament, or one you interact with, a companion?”

Habitat is an important consideration for health. So is food and safety. Even toys have repercussions.

“Most lessons were learned the hard way about pet products,” he said.

“Many bird toys are not safe because of cheap metals, faulty parts. People don’t know. We started our own online bird store built around our toys. The reason for safety is to extend a bird’s life and prevent accidents. The number one cause of death is diet, accident is second.”

Dedicated Toy Makers
Rena Fox, owner of Bird Supply, based in New Hampshire, built her company on this mission “If we won’t give a toy to our birds, than we won’t sell that toy to you.”

Rena always had a bird, when growing up. Her interest in birds reawakened after she had her third child at age 38.

“Originally we started the business out of our home doing much of it online, with the local hobby breeding small birds,” she said. Then the online business took off.

Fox and her husband, Allen, offer “avian products from around the world” based on the core philosophy. The online retailer site is designed and managed by Allen, who is a software and electrical engineer. The couple complement each other with skill sets. Fifty percent of sales happen online. Their customers tend to be located in the eastern U.S., but they ship all over. Recent packages went out to Puerto Rico to Canada and Alaska.

They found a location in Nashua (New Hampshire) with a large warehouse, after the business was born in their home.

“We have a small retail store,” she said. The Foxes will not sell a bird without talking to the person considering the purchase to see if they understand the level of care and time involved. They specialize in smaller birds. And the business offers toys.

“Some birds like to chew on the leather or other objects,” she said. “Some need texture, a variety of objects that interest and engage them. Each bird has specific likes and dislikes. Adding toys to their life means a richer environment.”

The online toy community is diverse. Look for toy makers who are utterly dedicated to their passion for birds and health. Some work closely with avian vets to constantly improve products.

Kathy Wodnicki is owner of A Unique Idea in Michigan. She was a seasoned travel agent in 2001, but Sept. 11 ended that career. To make a living after the world changed, she worked at a parrots-only store, and also took care of private clients’ parrots three days a week in their home. With a knack for crafts and creative by nature, she saw existing toys and saw room for improvement.

“I thought I could do more after watching the parrots work the toys.”

“Parrots can talk and interact as opposed to other companion animals.

In their own habitat parrots would be flying, foraging for food, they are nature’s way to repopulate the forest. They need to something to do in our homes.”

She notes some generalizations (the one thing that becomes apparent in talking with anyone who loves birds is one, passion, and two, that these featured creatures are as unique.)

“Amazons play with toys and tend to like big durable toys. Cockatoos approach things differently and take things apart, tend to be puzzle workers, keep at things until they figure it out. My cockatoo works leather, slivers it until it is gone. Big birds might bite through leather in one bite. Some birds become more aggressive when they see certain colors.”

Safety is an issue at all times.

“Zinc is toxic. Paint and glue, have to be carefully chosen for a toy, it matters. String can be lethal. Some human foods such as chocolate or avocado can be deadly. Some birds have reactions to onions. Unsafe foods can include mushrooms. In the wild, there’s no salt, no sugar, no preservatives. The not-safe-for-birds includes nonstick coating on Teflon; when heated it gives off an odorless gas. Heating up a new iron or using oven cleaner can cause lethal fumes.”

Getting the picture?

Most aerosol spays can be toxic. Febreze is a major one. Air fresheners, the ones that heat up and emit fragrance are no good for bird health and scented candles are a no-no.

“Birds can’t tolerate them,” she says. “Carpet deoderizers. Paint thinner. Smoke.”

(Which makes one think of what this stuff does to humans?)

“You want to change toys for diversity, to challenge them,” she said. “My cockatoo was a rescue. The owners had lost interest, said ‘he bites, he screams, he’s locked in his cage, we can’t take it’. I‘d say if you were locked in a bathroom for days on end, you’d scream too.”

Parrot Rescue

Lifetime means commitment. Birds are born with wings to fly.

Parrots, according to pet industry statistics, are the third most popular companion animal in the United States. (Cats and dogs are first and second). With lifespans (for some species) of 70 to 100 years, what happens when their human ages, moves, faces a life change?

Marc Johnson is co-director of Foster Parrots, Ltd., in Rockland, Mass. He and his wife see the flip side of people and their birds, when the two part company, sometimes heartbreakingly so.

An encapsulated version of his story as told on his web site (www.fosterparrots.com):

“After spending many hours alone, I felt that a companion animal would bring something that only another living being could add. . . . being somewhat over-enamored with tropical and exotic animals, I, decided that a parrot would be the perfect choice. I did my research . . . asked questions . . . I then picked up a copy of the classified ads and, without too much trouble, found what I was looking for.

“Blue and Gold Macaw
Must sell due to divorce.
$500.”

Johnson had found “Wally”. A beautiful bird with a wing span built to soar through jungle forests. Kept in a cage only 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide.

“I was sure I could do better for this bird, and so I put a down payment on Wally and went home to renovate a small room into a habitat for him.”

Thus began the first steps in a life mission. Johnson went on to become a go-to resource for unwanted birds. Foster Parrots Ltd. was established as a 501 (c)(3) corporiation in 1999.

The phone rings. (And it rings 20 to 30 times a week just for birds in the greater Boston area.)

This time it’s a parrot in Louisiana that was locked in a trailer, left day after day in isolation. A caring person paid to rescue the bird, and built its health up. But now that its feathers have grown back, he’s biting. She wants to get rid of it.

“My heart breaks every single day,” he said. “People who would commit to a bird are are thinking hard before making that decision. And saying no. Some come in and say ‘the pet stores told me that cocktaoos are great apartment pets.’ Blatant lies sometimes are used to sell the birds, they are high ticket items.”

Johnson and his wife refer calls from other states to a local rescue if possible. All are handled on a case by case basis.

Recently they got Ann Richards’ (the late former governor of Texas) bird.

“She had an Amazon parrot that she gave to her cook when she launched her lobbying and was on the road all the time. Then the parrot started biting. He’s gone through all of those typical things that birds go through. He will live another 70 years, where will he end up?”

They are now at a point of being overwhelmed.

“We are turning away the vast majority of people because the decision to acquire a bird is an impulse thing. We do make exceptions for exceptional people, but always gear it to the birds’ needs.”

What is next?

“Karen and I are adjusting our lives to serve as advocates,” he said. Frequent speakers (a recent engagement was at Tufts University) they have also launched a conservation-education program in Guyana.

“We build lodges and have started an eco-tourism business, in return for a pledge for protection In Guyana. Much of the forest is still virgin and we work in concert with groups to preserve the region. The site is an ecotourism destination and we lead several trips each year, limited to 8 people. To be there and see life as it is meant to be is a life-changing event.”