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WEST FARGO — A West Fargo-based bird rescue is asking for help from the public after being forced to close its facility in May because of a deadly and contagious parrot disease.

CAARE Avian Rescue volunteers shut down its building six months ago when a parrot came in and began to lose its feathers, testing positive for avian circovirus, or beak and feather disease.

It’s forced the rescue to send all their healthy birds to a Minneapolis rescue, and prevented them from bringing new homeless birds into the building.

A handful of volunteers are working steadily to disinfect the facility, but as CAARE’s Candi Deane says, it’s slow going.

Not only are they struggling to sterilize all the bird gear and other supplies the shelter’s accumulated over the past several years, they also need to don protective gear and change their clothes and shower when they return home to avoid infecting their own pet birds.

At the current rate, Deane estimates, they won’t be able to bring birds in to the facility until December at the earliest.

That’s why they’re asking for interested people to consider signing up to volunteer to help clean the building, so they don’t have to continue turning away parrots and other pet birds in need.

Deane and her blue-and-gold macaw Yogi joined the Morning Show to talk about the ongoing work the rescue does and what kind of help they could use to get the shelter back up and running again for the community.

https://www.caare.net/