Thirty Abandoned Parakeets Looking For Homes After Being Rescued In Laguna Niguel

MISSION VIEJO, CA — A bunch of abandoned birds in Orange County are on track to brighter days, after employees from the Mission Viejo Animal Services center rescued 30 parakeets from a Laguna Niguel trail on Tuesday.

The parakeets were discovered by a Laguna Niguel resident while hiking on a local trail near Moulton Parkway. The resident called the Mission Viejo Animal Services Center and said the parakeets were "not wild, could not fly and must have been abandoned."

When Animal Care Supervisor Brynn Lavison saw a picture of the birds, she knew immediately that the parakeets had been left on the trail. Lavison told Patch that in her twenty years of working for the department, she had never seen such a large instance of animal abandonment.

"It's always disappointing when people aren't helping their animals in any way whatsoever," Lavison said. "And that's why we're here. We see the best and the worst of people.

Employees were dispatched to the area and were able to catch 30 parakeets total, who were then promptly taken to the center's main facility. Two dead parakeets were also found, Lavison said, and said that it was possible the birds were hit by cars.

Each bird was named, photographed and assessed for medical issues. Some of the parakeets looked like they had been attacked by larger birds, Lavison told Patch.

Fortunately, none of the 26 birds sustained life-threatening injuries.

"When these birds came in, they were all starving," Lavison said. "They went right to the food, right to the water, you could tell that they didn't belong [out in the wild] and didn't know how to find food for themselves."

The recovered parakeets are now ready for new forever homes and have drawn interest across south Orange County, Lavison told Patch. Residents can adopt a parakeet through the center for a special price of $10.

“I had two parakeets growing up and enjoyed watching, holding, and listening to them,” Lavison said. “They take a little bit of maintenance to keep them clean and fed but are generally an easy pet.”

The Mission Viejo Animal Services Center asked residents who know someone who may have owned these birds to contact the center at 949-470-3045. Residents who are interested in learning more about adopting a parakeet are also asked to call the same number.