LEE (Great-billed or Moluccan Parrot)

September 2024 – Intake at Avalon Store

• Transfer from Home Aviary to Store: Susanne relocated Lee from her home aviary to the Avalon store. When staff saw him, they were collectively aghast at the state of his beak. It was so severely overgrown that it had pushed his upper and lower mandibles out of alignment by at least ¾ inch (see photos). The condition suggested a prolonged lack of necessary grooming care.

• Initial Housing and Concealment: Susanne asked the store manager to set Lee up in a cage in the shelter area. On the same day, grooming appointments were taking place, and customers walked through the shelter space to drop off and pick up their parrots. According to the manager, Susanne described herself as being "embarrassed of the condition of his beak" and asked the manager to move his cage where customers could not see him.

• Staff and Groomer Response: According to the weekend feeder who overheard the conversation between the groomer and Susanne, the professional groomer was appalled by the condition of Lee’s beak and because the internal blood vessels that grown abnormally long inside the overgrown beak, his beak could not be fixed all at once without causing serious injury. A gradual, multi-month grooming plan was necessary to reduce it safely which was initiated and scheduled by the store manager.

• Feeding Difficulty: When Lee arrived, he was unable to eat pellets or crack open nuts. He had to tilt his head sideways and scoop food into his mouth, often spilling most of it. His feeding ability was severely impaired, for a prolonged period before intake, and staff were extremely upset and concerned for Lee.

• Susanne’s Awareness and Inaction: Previous staff had brought Lee's condition to Susanne and Craig's attention as far back as February of 2023. The pictures below dated 2023 were taken by that staff member. Comparing those pictures to the ones taken at the end of 2024 shows that his beak was allowed to continue to overgrow over that year and a half period. Per the Store Manager and Morning Feeding Staff, another long-time employee who works at Susanne's home told them that he reminded her monthly about Lee, but she did nothing. Per the staff who took the pictures in 2023, his firing was due him being persistent about birds who needed better care.

• Physical and Behavioral Effects:
– Lee was completely missing his tail feathers upon intake.
– His mate had died sometime earlier of unknown reasons to the staff.

• Ongoing Recovery: The store manager ensured that Lee was groomed twice a month, as often as his condition safely allowed. Over the course of about seven months, his beak became significantly improved, though by no means normal.
– 📸 Photos taken at intake show the extreme curvature and misalignment of his beak.
– 📸 Later images show partial recovery due to persistent grooming efforts, though deformity remains.
These changes highlight both the severity of the original neglect and the effectiveness of consistent, proper care.

• Misrepresentation and Transfer to Another Rescue: On March 5, 2025, Susanne transferred Lee to The Gabriel Foundation, a parrot rescue in Colorado. At the time of transfer, Susanne reportedly told the receiving rescue that Lee’s beak had always looked the way it did then. However, photos and staff observations from March 2023 and September 2024 show that his condition had been much worse.

During the 7 months Lee resided at the store, his beak condition significantly improved due to regular grooming practices implemented by store staff.

Transferred from Susanne's home to her store in September 2024 and was transferred to The Gabriel Foundation in March of 2025.

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