Warning to WA birdkeepers

[flap]

So far we have been lucky. But maybe we need to start to be a little more cautious...

[desertbirds]

With thee sort of goings on its not hard to see why bird sales are so popular. A few of my older friends in Adelaide basically wont have people come to buy birds from their home unless its a long term friend or similar. These guys generally take all of their young stock to the bird shops.
A good dog that lives outside is aslo a huge asset.

[flap]

we have been avoiding bird shops, only using them as a last resort. However maybe we need to rethink that. Not that our birds are anything special, in fact some are the dime a dozen variety that birdshops don't want (painteds,stars).
We haven't thought of selling at the bird sales before... And our networks are not very widespread at the moment.

Deb, appalling about the girl guides... who steals from kids????? (Come to think of it, my parents had a cleaner who used to steal my pocket money when I was 9... How pathetic is that!!!!)

Shame that we cannot enjoy our hobby freely without having to watch our back...

[Zipman]

My take as to why our society seems to be going down the gurgler.

Drugs & Alcohol would have to contribute to a vast number of violent and crimes of theft, the war on drugs isn't working and I really think it's time our society reassess how we view drugs and the legality of them, if addicts were given their controlled amount on a daily basis there would be no need for them to steal to support their habits and we'd all be a lot safer and they themselves would be at less risk from overdose and other health problems and gone is the organized crime syndicates that now supply. I know that a lot of people won't agree with this but lets face the truth the millions of $ have been spent to try and irridicate drugs to little avail. Alchohol on the other hand the legal drug can never be controlled and possibly education about the dangers of alchohol & drugs should start from a very early age "I can't believe my 11 year old son does not receive this at his school!!!"

Having lived in Japan for many years I noticed the stark difference in how safe and ordered their society is, sure there is crime but at a much lower level than Australia which I put down to the Ned Kelly Syndrome, our national hero was a thief and killer!!!! also I think that going back to our penal days when the Police were the enemy I think that it is and always has been the Australian way to view law enforcment with distaste and mistrust and a total disrespect for the Police is ingrained in the Australian mind.

Jail in my opinion is a holiday camp in this country, as a comparison to incarceration in Japan where you are isolated for the first few months and during that time you may not speak, have any reading or writing material, once you enter the main prison population it is highly regimented and there is little in the way of any comfort as we see here, perhaps we should get much tougher?

Mandatory sentencing we need it common assault should carry a mandatory 5 year sentence without parole assualt causing bodily harm 10 years, common theft 2 years and breaking and entry 5 years in my opinion is a fair punishment for these crimes.

Rant over

[Diane]

my last birds sales were from my car in the parking lot of the hospital

From what I have heard, in the UK a lot of private bird sales are done in a pub carpark, so you are not alone there Deb