... we couldn't imagine not working here

Amy Meade

I grew up in upstate New York, and always loved animals. I wasn't always surrounded by people who would let me rescue animals I'd find needing help. I also was forced to witness atrocities acted out on animals. All of this drew me to loving and wanting to help animals even more.

The first animal that I encountered and was able to attempt helping (not counting feeding strays) was a robin. It was late autumn and the bird was sitting on the sidewalk. I picked it up and carried it with me the mile to school. I found the director of the science department (a biology teacher) and she took the bird, assuring me that it would go to a rehabber. Unfortunately the rehabber that the bird went to did not provide us with updates, so I don't know the bird's ultimate fate.

Over the next few years, various animals came and went in my life. I helped them however much I could, given their situation as well as my own since I was only working as a cashier in retail. During that time I met my husband Brian who shares my love for animals. After several years of casually helping animals that crossed our paths, our lives brought us to Phoenix, AZ. That was where Bernie, a feral pigeon, entered our lives and gave us a push into wildlife rehabilitation.

We began volunteering with East Valley Wildlife working mostly with pigeons, sparrows, and doves. It was hard to put as much into the organization as we would have liked to due to the distance between it and where we were living. We learned a lot about birds in general, as well several valuable techniques used in rehabbing. We were able to use a lot of that training when we began working with another rescue group that was closer to home, Raptors Inc.. There we learned about various birds of prey, as well as a little bit about parrots. The couple running the organization has several parrots that we were able to interact with and learn about.

We worked with both East Valley Wildlife and Raptors Inc. for a few years, and our day jobs became less than secure positions. Looking for traditional jobs became discouraging, so we moved to the less conventional sorts of jobs. That is how we found the Oasis. It turned out that it's a small world, because one of the major volunteers at the Oasis also volunteered with us through East Valley Wildlife.

We came out for a long weekend "test" to work alongside the current staff and meet the birds. After falling in love with the birds, despite a few bites, we couldn't imagine not working here. When we got the call that we were hired, we packed up. This included our menagerie consisting of four rescued non-releasable feral pigeons (Pizzie, Puffy, Soupy, and Beebee), six (now 5) zebra finches, mostly from the humane society (Lucky, Sylvie, Dizzy, Pinky, Dandy, and Sophie ... RIP little girl), one non-releasable one-eyed dove (Uni), one Lutino Indian Ringneck Parakeet who was a rescued escapee (Squeaker), and two white rats (Thing 1 and Thing 2).

Our animals take up a lot of our home time. In what time we have left in the day, I like to try new vegetarian recipes, knit, crochet, take pictures, and various other creative hobbies as the whim strikes me. Most of the time I try to think how I can use my other talents to benefit the birds either directly or indirectly. I also hope to be able to come up with some creative ways for the Oasis to reach its goals and to help all of the animals here live the best possible lives that we can provide.