Edgerton woman's love of parrots drives her final goal
If you go
What: Fine Feathered Friends Sanctuary will hold a "Spooktacular Grand Re-opening" to celebrate its new addition and raise money. The event will include a silent auction, treats, door prizes and a pet psychic. Bring a picture of your pet if you'd like a psychic reading. Halloween costumes are encouraged.
When: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Edgerton Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon.
Where: Fine Feathered Friends Sanctuary, 1570 County A, Albion Township.
Cost: Free, but donations will be accepted.
More info: Call (608) 541-0090 or visit www.feathered-friends.com.
Photo
Fine Feathered Friends founder Sandi Meinholz talks a macaw, Homey, into sticking his tongue out at her. Despite being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Meinholz is committed to guaranteeing the bird sanctuary’s future by making sure the mortgage on its new Albion Township location is paid off.
Photo
Roxann Caracristi visits with Wild Bill, a Moluccan cockatoo. Stung by a bee more than 10 years ago, the bird wears a vest the prevents it from picking at the long-healed injury.
Photo
As visitors wander among the cages of birds at Fine Feathered Friends bird sanctuary in Albion Township, shelter volunteer Karen Thrasher plays with a green-winged Macaw called Pappy.
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This novelty street sign on the wall at Fine Feathered Friends bird sanctuary offers a clear picture of where its owner’s heart lies.
EDGERTON — Sandi Meinholz worries about what will happen to the parrots when she's gone.
She knows the bird sanctuary she founded, Fine Feathered Friends, has a capable board, but she wants to make sure the group will be able to keep the Albion Township property forever.
Sandi has pancreatic cancer and knows her time might be limited, but she wants to live long enough for Fine Feathered Friends to pay off the mortgage on the property.
"I'm determined to last five to 10 years to get this done," she said. "It would be rare … (but) I've got a lot of support and people praying."
The group is kicking off its effort to raise the $250,000 needed with a fundraiser Saturday complete with pet psychic.
Sandi and her husband, Randy, have owned parrots for 50 years. When people found out the Meinholzes kept exotic birds, they started giving the couple parrots they no longer could or would care for, and the sanctuary was born, she said.
At one point, the couple kept 63 birds in their Madison condo before moving the sanctuary, first to a Madison warehouse and later to the Albion Township property.
Sandi and Randy own the property at 1570 County A and live in a home next door to the sanctuary building. They have been making the mortgage payments on the property, but they want to transfer ownership to the organization.
Fine Feathered Friends is one of three parrot sanctuaries in the state and the only no-kill one. Last week, it housed 75 parrots, from tiny parakeets to colorful McCaws to large and noisy cockatoos.
The sanctuary runs entirely on volunteers and receives no outside funding. It pays for the birds' care through donations, adoption fees and the sale of feed and care products.
The birds are amazing creatures, said Roxann Caracristi, board president. They can live to be 100 years old and are as smart as 5-year-old children. One of Sandi's birds can dial the telephone and has some phone numbers memorized. He can imitate Sandi's voice when he's trying to get Randy's attention.
But people often find the birds are more work than they can handle, Caracristi said. They can be messy and noisy and need lots of attention. They form strong bonds with their flocks in the wild, and domestic birds tend to substitute human owners for flock mates.
Cockatoos, especially, want to be held and cuddled all the time. Some become so upset from lack of attention that they peck holes in themselves, Caracristi said.
One cockatoo, Jeckyl, pecked himself to death after he was brought to the sanctuary. Caracristi still can't talk about him without crying.
After Jeckyl's death, the organization was able to add a special room for cockatoos in an addition this summer. Some of the birds live together in a colony so the birds can bond with each other instead of humans.
"I'm passionate about this," Caracristi said. "I don't want (what happened to Jeckyl) to happen ever again."
Some of the birds are no longer fit to be pets and probably will spend the rest of their lives at the sanctuary, Caracristi said.
The sanctuary hopes to create a memorial for the birds that are buried on the property. Sandi wants her ashes scattered at the memorial after she dies, and that's one reason she wants the sanctuary to go on forever, she said.
"I want to make sure it stays a sanctuary so I don't become farm fodder or something," she said.
Nov 4, 2009 at 3:18 a.m.
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Please take a moment to think of this before believing everything you read on the internet. Anyone with a grudge or problem can put up a website full of lies. Doesn't make it true. If you have doubts about Fine Feathered Friends Sanctuary all you have to do is visit the place yourself to make an informed decision on the care and love these bird receive. Thank you.
Oct 31, 2009 at 11:07 p.m.
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BayMom I went to the site. Very interesting, it makes it all seem very suspect doesn't it? I think we will do some more research before deciding to sponsor a bird here. I wonder where we can find more information?
Oct 31, 2009 at 8:14 p.m.
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I don't know anything about this place, but as I was searching the web after visiting its website, I also came across a website saying that people might want to be aware of others experiences (or so they say) with this group. http://www.finefeatheredfrauds.com/
Oct 31, 2009 at 5:28 p.m.
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Very nice Sandi! We found a bird we would like to sponsor!! My son's cockatiel just died~~we found one that looks just like it, with the same name on Sandi's site!! My son isn't ready to open his heart to another bird, so we thought we'd sponsor the bird in memory of his!!
Oct 30, 2009 at 1:39 p.m.
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A friend has a Timnaw (sp?) and "Lucy" is amazingly intuitive and intelligent....and quite humorous. She would fling a piece of food out the right side of her cage and watch the dog eat it, then out the left side, then the right...making the dog criss-cross back and forth for her own entertainment. :) She likes watching TV perched on your knee. However, when there is an action flick on and people are getting beat up, it upsets her. Every night around 7:00 p.m. without prompting she goes through her repertoire of sounds, words and phrases....a real ham.
Oct 30, 2009 at 12:11 p.m.
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on the site you may "sponsor" your favorite resident.
Oct 30, 2009 at 12:09 p.m.
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nice story. I went to the web site and it is very imforative. Nice comments about getting a bird here vs pet store. I would love to have a big bird but the story of the one eating itself could scare a person off. So sad about that bird. I see they seem to get along with cats and dogs. I would think the cats would try to eat the birds.
Oct 30, 2009 at 10:32 a.m.
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Also, take a look at the group's website. The link is provided in the information placed above the article's photos. There are many, many ways to help out financially and otherwise. Plus, the website does a fantastic job introducing you to some of its birds and is filled with more pictures of these beautiful creatures.
Oct 30, 2009 at 8:21 a.m.
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Words of wow, very cool and etc are great, but does not help Sandi complete her goal before she moves on. She really needs yours and everyone else help to finance this sanctuary. Her address is above and this a great there is some one out there that cares for these birds.
Oct 29, 2009 at 10:26 p.m.
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Sandi Meinholz is on my list of wonderful, compassionate and amazing people. Kudos to her husband and the staff but Sandi has a life threatening illness and still worries about creatures in need. GO Sandi.
Oct 29, 2009 at 8:52 p.m.
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It would be neat to have one of these birds ... to pass down to your children as they grow older.
Oct 29, 2009 at 7:26 p.m.
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Gosh, these birds are beautiful! Thank you to Sandi and the others for creating a loving home for these creatures. I will be praying for you, Sandi. Also, applause for Gazette reporter Stacy Vogel and photographer Bill Olmsted (beautiful photos) for their work on this article. It was filled with information that was new to me and revealed "a little bit of heaven" that I had no idea existed in our area.
Oct 29, 2009 at 7:21 p.m.
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That Moluccan cockatoo is so beautiful. Wow.
Oct 29, 2009 at 6:37 p.m.
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Very cool!
Oct 29, 2009 at 5:39 p.m.
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There aren't enough people like Sandi out there. Best of luck trying to raise money. It's definitely a worthwhile and needed cause.
Oct 29, 2009 at 4:17 p.m.
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Wow. Cool birds. Best of luck to you.
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