By J.J. Huggins
jhuggins@eagletribune.com
September 26, 2008 08:13 am METHUEN — Eighty-three parakeets rolled into the MSPCA from Peabody on the back of a pickup truck Wednesday afternoon. The birds were packed in cardboard boxes secured with tape. They were "absolutely freaked out" by the near 20-mile trip, said Michael Keiley, manager of the animal shelter at Nevins Farm. "We hope he didn't lose any of the boxes along the way," said Keiley of the man who surrendered the birds on behalf of the man in Peabody. The parakeets had been living and breeding, often in squalor and filth, in cages in the basement of a Peabody house, Keiley said. "No more birds," said their contrite owner, Ramon Medrano, as he sat outside the now empty three-family apartment building on Elliott Place in Peabody. He said he expects to be allowed back inside in two weeks. "The birds grew too fast," said his friend Sincencio Melo. Some of the birds were newborns and still nursing. Others had feathers missing from pecking at each other, Keiley said. "It must have been a very terrible, unsanitary situation for the people and for the birds," Keiley said. "They must have been competing for food. I'm sure there were many more babies that were born that perished." The birds are in good shape and ready for adoption, Keiley said. "They do all appear to be friendly," he said. Medrano had been ordered to get rid of the birds by local health officials. Keiley said he didn't know what the Peabody man's intentions were, but he called the bird breeding "completely needless." "I find it awful that people don't address the problem when it's happening and just let it get out of hand," he said. Because the MSPCA is already caring for 12 parakeets, the staff is trying to find other shelters to help with some of the newest arrivals. Cost to adopt a bird is $20. Prospective owners are asked to bring a cage or a photo of a cage that the bird will live in. "He was letting the parakeets fly free in the basement," Peabody health inspector Bill Pasquale said. "The parakeets had eaten through some of the insulation in the electrical wires." The building's owner, David Koeplin Realty Inc. of Manchester-by-the-Sea, has agreed to bring in an electrician to survey the wires, Pasquale said. A professional cleaning crew was on site yesterday. Medrano, a leather worker, said he raised the birds for fun, not profit. "I gave them to (people) for free," he said. Melo, Medrano's friend, added that no one he knew was upset by the presence of the birds or concerned that they might be a health hazard. Apparently that never occurred to Medrano either. "Before in my country (the Dominican Republic), I have many different animals. Chickens. A horse. A cow. A dog." Staff reporter Alan Burke contributed to this story.
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