SAILOR (Military Macaw)

3408 Garfield Ave., Loveland, CO 80538

Sailor, a Military Macaw, arrived at Avalon Aviary Bird Store in October 2022. For over two years, he exhibited severe and ongoing health issues, including chronic diarrhea, excessive thirst, and behavioral changes. Despite repeated reports from staff and clear signs of illness, store owner Susanne Cochran repeatedly ignored or delayed proper veterinary care, even as his condition worsened.

Sailor tested positive for a bacterial infection (Klebsiella) in 2023 and was prescribed antibiotics, but his symptoms persisted. Staff continued to document his declining health, yet Susanne dismissed concerns, refused to follow up with veterinary treatment, and implemented ineffective and negligent "solutions" such as vinegar water and probiotic powder for persistant, ongoing health concerns.
By early 2025, Sailor’s condition had worsened to the point where he was found lying face-first on the bottom of his cage. Despite acknowledging that Sailor needed medical attention, Susanne refused to act, making excuses instead of seeking care immediately.

Additionally, her husband, Craig Perkins, repeatedly agitated Sailor by forcibly removing him from his cage, despite the bird’s visible distress and resistance. These actions, along with Susanne’s indifference to both the mistreatment of the birds and staff concerns, culminated in a key bird caretaker resigning in December 2024.

This timeline outlines only the documented instances of neglect. Many more details have been lost due to Susanne’s removal of care logs from the store. Sailor's case exemplifies the ongoing, systemic failure of the owners Avalon Aviary Bird Store to provide adequate veterinary care, resulting in prolonged suffering for Sailor under Susanne Cochran’s care.

** Any mention in the notes of the Parrot Care Log "disappearing" can now be corrected to "Susanne removed it from the store so that there wasn't a consistent timeline record of her neglect". She had since told people that she "discovered" what was being kept track of in the Parrot Care Log and took it home. She repeatedly denied to her staff that she took it or knew anything about it prior to firing her Store Manager in retaliation. The lack of complete and thorough details on this parrot and others is due to Susanne taking the Parrot Care Log without every date being documented via photograph.

Timeline of Events

2022

October 2022 – Sailor arrived at the shelter. He had loose stool and was not eating. Susanne instructed staff to give him vinegar water and excessive nuts instead of seeking veterinary care.

November 2022 – No improvement. Susanne ordered a new type of pellet food called Mazuri, claiming it was what she thought Sailor had eaten before.

December 2022 – Still no improvement. Susanne again prescribed vinegar water for three weeks instead of taking him to a vet.

2023

January 2023 – After months of symptoms, and persistance from staff, Sailor was finally taken to a vet, who diagnosed possible liver and kidney involvement. He was prescribed antibiotics and supplements. Susanne forcefully restrained him (pinning him to the bottom of the cage) to administer medication, though staff could medicate him without causing stress.

February 2023 – Symptoms persisted. A different vet sold Susanne a homeopathic remedy she called "miracle dust" instead of conventional treatment before test results even came back. Later, tests confirmed a Klebsiella bacterial infection. Susanne used leftover antibiotics from previous birds to treat him for the infection.

March - August 2023 – Sailor continued to have runny, projectile, and foul-smelling stool, excessive thirst, and weight loss. Staff repeatedly documented concerns, but Susanne dismissed them, using ineffective remedies like "kidney support powder" instead of seeking further veterinary intervention.

September 2023 – Another macaw tested positive for Klebsiella. Susanne decided medicated both Sailor and this other Macaw with a different antibiotic. Because there is no sufficient place to quarantine Macaws, Susanne asked that they be moved to the other side of the room closer to customer's boarding birds and further from the shelter birds, risking further spread of infection to customer's birds.

November 2023 – Sailor's symptoms remained unchanged. Staff ran out of kidney powder and notified Susanne, who took no further action.

2024

January 2024 – Sailor’s symptoms of runny, smelly, projectioe, loose stool continued, and he became more and more aggitated. Susanne suggested restarting kidney powder instead of taking him to a vet.

March 2024 – Store manager urged Susanne to take Sailor to a vet after witnessing extreme projectile stool contaminating nearby cages. Susanne dismissed the concerns, claiming, “Maybe his poop is just that way.” and to move him a little further away. At this point, her husband had moved the shelter birds and the boarding birds into a smaller room and they were all packed together. There was nowhere to move him in that space. Staff repeatedly expressed their concerns over this and that the birds needed to be moved back into the other room where there was more space between them. It took a random PACFA checkup due to a customer complain for Susanne to agree to let her Store Manager fix the situation her husband has caused. It took a couple of weeks to do so.

May 2024 – Other birds began showing similar symptoms. Staff expressed concern about possible disease spread. Susanne refused to seek veterinary care and instead relied on probiotics from a homeopathic supplier/vet.

12/23/2024: Craig Perkins, Susanne’s husband, had repeatedly forced Sailor from his cage despite the bird’s clear distress, biting, and resistance. On this date, he aggressively shoved his elbow into Sailor’s chest to force him out again. A long-term bird caretaker, who had observed Craig’s inappropriate handling multiple times, confronted him. This escalated into an argument where Craig threatened the employee, who then resigned. The resignation was not due to dissatisfaction with the job, but rather an unwillingness to witness continued bird mistreatment by the owner's, being threatened for addressing it, and Susanne’s indifference to both the abuse and overall neglect.

2025

January 10, 2025 – Sailor’s condition worsened, and a new care log was started to document ongoing neglect since Susanne took the original binder and didn't bring it back. Staff again communicated the many birds now with similar gastrointestinal symptoms to Susanne and were instructed to administer probiotics instead of seeking veterinary care.

January 16, 2025 – Projectile stool from Sailor was observed (and photographed) 8-feed outside his cage. The shelter reeked from the severe diarrhea. Susanne dismissed staff concerns.

January 25, 2025 – A new staff member, hired to replace the one who quit due to Sailor's mistreatment, found Sailor face-down on the bottom of his cage, early in the morning, and feared he was dead. He informed the store manager who informed Susanne. Despite Susanne finally admitting to the new staff member that he needed veterinary care, Susanne refused to take him, citing travel plans and dismissing offers from the store manager to transport him to a vet for her.

January 29, 2025 – After completing probiotics, Sailor's condition remained the same. No veterinary care was pursued.

February 14, 2025 – Projectile, foul-smelling diarrhea continued to be documented by concerned staff to Susanne.

Scroll through the items below (on a computer) by double clicking on the pictures and using the arrows on either side of the pictures to scroll through. Only a picture preview is in the display array, and the arrow isn't easy to view in all browsers.