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MySpace isn't just for people anymore. It's for animals, too. When Deana Dallas, 37, was at a yard sale three years ago, she never thought she'd return home with a Quaker parrot. Then she saw Julian's living conditions and knew she could provide it a better life.
Dallas has since created a profile page on the popular social networking website MySpace.com, giving tips for potential bird owners and listing horror stories about neglected birds. And she has launched a nonprofit organization, Angels for Parrots.
"We rescue parrots, and we keep them forever because it's not healthy to bounce them from home to home," Dallas said.
With more than 9,300 MySpace friends, Dallas says her goal is to provide a safe home for birds in the parrot family. She's taken in more than eight. To ensure they have a good home, she has willed the long-lived birds to her three children, Summer, 17, Autumn, 14, and Kody, 11.
"Do your homework before you get one," Dallas said. "That's the whole point of that website. Make sure you're aware of how much attention they need. You can't just stick them against the wall and leave them. I rotate attention with these guys every day."
Besides Julian, the Dallas flock includes Rocko, an African gray; Romeo, a Mexican redhead Amazon; Shilo, a blue and gold macaw; Zookie, another Quaker, and more.
Romeo and Rocko also were being ignored and neglected, she said.
"When we went to get (Romeo), he was in a chicken wire cage with sticks," she said. "They wouldn't handle him, they would grab him with the glove. We took him real fast."
"Rocko was in the paper in Umatilla," she said. "He was stuck in a corner for two years, no perches, no toys, no nothing. I still can't let him out, I can't touch him. We've had him almost a year. But he's very happy in there with his toys."
She believes their owners wanted a pretty bird that could talk.
"Rocko is an African gray, and they are the best talkers and the smartest, and he doesn't say a word," Dallas explained. "Not one. So he's a good example that they don't all talk."
Only rarely does she adopt out her own birds. Sweetpea, a Goffins cockatoo, went to someone Dallas already knew, Jenise Stephens, 30, from Finley.
"I had gotten a bird from her previously named Honey," Stephens said. "I was actually going to get Sweetpea for my grandmother, but my grandmother got sick, so we ended up with Sweetpea."
Sweetpea, who is 4 years old, is expected to live up to 90 years.
"She dances on top of her cage," Stephens said. "She'll sit on your lap and nuzzle her head onto your leg, (which) means she wants to be petted. She's definitely a handful. We have a cockatiel and when you get into the bigger birds, you don't even realize the difference of the work until you take on that responsibility. My daughter, Cherish, will take her when we go. She's really fond of my daughter and that's her best pal."
Dallas' children are just as attached to their family's birds.
"I'm pretty used to it," Summer said. "With these guys it's fun, it's pretty entertaining."
Dallas continues to go online to see if she can help more birds.
"I think Deana does a wonderful job with what she does," Stephens said. "I would not have the patience for what she does. ... It's rewarding to see that when you get an animal, they give you that extra love; it's a bond that you form with them."
Dallas says she regularly gets feedback on her online site, which warns about the needs and requirements of having the demanding, long-lived birds.
Parrot owners need to think long-term, she advises.
"They're going to live as long as you do, if not longer," Stephens said. "You can't find that with a lot of pets. You keep a dog for about 10-15 years and you grow attached. ... Birds are the same way, they just live longer."
For more information, go to myspace.com/angelforparrots or http://angelsforparrots.com.
"If there's somebody that has one and they know they're not giving them the attention, we're here," Dallas said. "We'll take them. We have plenty of room still."
Anyone who wants to donate food or toys can drop them off at 621 Smith Ave., Richland.
