04/18/2026
Hi everyone, as we head into spring, I need to make an announcement and set some ground rules about my capacity and schedule moving forward.
I need people to understand that I am just one person. Occasionally, I have help from a friend or my husband. Otherwise, it’s just me.
I am, to my knowledge, one of the only avian rescues specializing in pigeons and non-natives in the area. I receive nasty messages and voicemails for not being immediately available during the workday. I have been called names or guilt tripped for being unable to drop everything to travel to every bird needing help and pick them up myself. I have had people threaten birds in an attempt to strongarm me into taking them. This stuff is really really tough.
On top of my rescue work, I have a full-time job, a family, and my own birds (many of whom are special needs, requiring lots of specialized care). These parts of my life HAVE to come first, because otherwise there is no leftover energy FOR them.
There have been years where I raise over 50 babies in just a few months during springtime. I take humane cases, pet surrenders, disabled birds, and emergency intakes; more or less year round. I put in hours upon hours of work to get birds rehabilitated, socialized, adopted, placed at sanctuaries, or released where possible. And the money to do all of this - feed these birds, house them, give them enrichment and toys, rehabilitate them, take them to the vet, provide specialized care for their disabilities – 99.9% of it comes out of my own pocket, as I don’t receive funding of any sort aside from donations and adoption fees.
Point being this: I put everything I have into this, but lately, have been neglecting myself pretty heavily in the process trying to keep up. I have an autoimmune condition that causes my body to attack my peripheral nervous system and joints, moreso when I am exhausted or stressed. I am still recovering from a major hip reconstruction surgery that took place less than a year ago. And being a rescuer takes a huge mental toll, too – I am almost always filled with immense guilt and pressure to keep this up, because I am aware that there may be nobody else to help the birds that I cannot take.
But now, my current workload is directly worsening my wellbeing, and I am really struggling to get through the day without making decisions that are directly detrimental to my physical or mental health.
I don’t say these things to garner praise or pity. I am just trying to make it exceedingly clear how much this means to me. I love my birds – and the ones that aren’t mine, too. They make my life worth living, and I am honored to have this responsibility. But the way that things are now is not sustainable, and if I try to keep it up, it won’t be long before I am unable to keep doing it at all. I can only take so many 18 hour days. And that is why I need to make sure that I am taking care of myself, too – without me, there is no Summit Aviary.
If we have already made plans for an intake or adoption, I am committed to those and nothing will be changing. However, over the next couple of weeks, I will be setting up some new guidelines as far as intakes, capacity, and my time commitments.
Posts will be made to go over the changes that will take place, but the biggest one is that adoptions, rescue intakes, and phone calls will likely be scheduled as appointments. Rather than me filling every gap in my waking hours, ideally, I will have set “business hours". Additionally, during baby season, I will likely be closed to the majority of pigeon intakes, or I risk spreading myself much too thin.
I understand that this will likely be frustrating to some people, and I do sincerely apologize. But my top priority is making sure that in five, ten, fifteen years, I am still here and able to keep doing this. I am happy to answer any questions, and as mentioned, more information will be provided in the days to come. Thank you!
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