Parrot Nation

I was invited by the Naples, Florida Petco to join in the festivities and participate in their First Annual Pet Festival. It was a Fundraiser for the “Petco Foundation.” According to their website:

“In February, 1999, the PETCO Foundation was established to promote a wide variety of educational and charitable activities nationwide by partnering with approximately 5,700 local animal welfare organizations at the grassroots level. Since then, the PETCO Foundation has raised more than $49 million through a combination of fundraisers including Tree of Hope, Spring A Pet, Round Up and KIND News. In addition, the PETCO Foundation is always prepared to launch immediate fundraising efforts in the case of natural disasters and emergencies.”

I was happy to represent “BIRD TALK” Magazine. BT sent some issues down which I happily signed and gave to the attendees, compliments of the magazine. I met so many wonderful people and even a few birds. They managed to raise some money for the foundation as well as arranging for some of the local pet rescues to find homes for quite a few animals.

Petco arranged for a small area to pet some animals: A miniature horse, some pygmy goats and some pigs. They had some great carnival games, and the big Petco Mascot, “Red Ruff” was on hand for photos and fun. Here is a photo of Mattie and I taking it all in. Mattie had a wonderful time meeting everyone. And so did I:

They arranged for a beautiful area for me and the birds to hang out. Chistina, a Manager at the store organized the event and did a superb job. 

All in all it was such a successful day both for the animals and the people. Here is a video of Parker and me greeting some “Bird Talk” Magazine readers and supplying them with complimentary copies “autographed” by Parker, Pepper and Mattie. (I used a bird track stamp and a paw-print stamp!):