This is kind of an off topic post but I feel it’s important. It’s about conducting background checks on the individual(s) you’re turning your parrots over to. This is the internet and crazy things happen. Kiril (the other guy who helps with this site) actually lost a African Grey due to internet fraud. The person used a stolen credit card, a fake name and a fake address.

Once a parrot has been shipped getting it back is going to be next to impossible. And getting the authorities to do something about it is going to be just as impossible. Nothing against Law Enforcement (we love them), it’s just that finding a parrot is not going to be at the top of their list. Therefore there’s a couple things you can do to ensure you’re shipping to a person who is who they say they are.

People Search – You can use a free tool at http://peoplesearch.integrascan.com. This tool scans through over 1200 databases to find matches on the individual. It will give you their name, aka’s, current address and previous addresses. Simply enter the persons info and then match up what comes back with what they told you. You can even get creative and ask them a question like “What town did you live in, in 2004?” or “How old are you?” These types of questions can even be done in passing without raising any suspicion.

Criminal Records – If you want to go a bit further and pay a few bucks for a background check you can. A criminal record of an abusive person or a habitual drug user can tell you a lot about the type of enviroment you’ll be sticking your bird in. After doing the people search you can click a button to run a criminal record on them.

All of this information is considered public record. You do not need any signed releases not does the person you’re conducting background checks on know about it. I know this may sound extreme to some but it only takes once to understand that there are people who are more than happy to steal from you. Especially over the Internet. I hope you never have to find out first hand.