Yesterday, we emailed the parrot refuge intending to offer it $1,000 toward its Revenue Canada bills. We chose to support this refuge because Wendy Huntbatch said that she wants foremost to educate people that parrots are generally not good family pets.

"They are extremely intelligent and very needy," she said. "And they belong in flocks, not alone in a tiny cage eating only sunflower seeds."

Huntbatch is that rarity, a rescuer who tells the truth about the animals they rescue - that they should not ever be pets.

The motives and ethics of rescue societies which promote the owning of species that have to be kept in cages, must be questioned. Almost every species lives in groups, not solitary lives. And every living creature yearns to be free.

Rabbits and birds in cages, reptiles and fish in aquariums, all are victims of cruelty.

The parrot refuge can carry on thanks to the donation by the casino, and AAS will spend the $1,000 where else it is needed.