King O from Best Friends' Parrot Garden: Meet The Parrots
Sure we all talk to our animals, and on this show, my non-human guest talks back! In English! A Super Smiley Adventure visits with King O from Best Friend's Animal Sanctuary's Parrot Garden. His human caretaker, Wendy Hatchell, interprets for him and tells us all about these entertaining, fun, social, charming creatures and what we need to know as Parrot Parents (try saying that five times) to keep them happy, talking, dancing and singing.
BIO:
Veterinary technician/caregiver at Parrot Garden at Best Friends Animal Society
Wendy Hatchel joined Best Friends Animal Society ’s staff in 2007. Prior to her career at Best Friends, Wendy was a bid estimator for a construction firm and had experience in office management for engineering and construction firms.
Wendy first heard about Best Friends from her mother and came to the Society’s sanctuary in Kanab, Utah with her two children for a volunteer visit. They came to volunteer in Dogtown but once Wendy toured Parrot Garden, where all of the psittacine birds are housed, “the kids never got back to volunteer with the dogs.
Since Wendy was a foster child herself, she felt an instant connection with these birds that average 11 homes in their lifetime. “I had empathy for these intelligent and emotional animals. These birds are very much like kids in foster care. I just seemed to know how to read them.
Now living in Kanab with her son Vincent, 18, and daughter, Haley, 15, Wendy and her children share their lives with Jazz, the green cheek conure, Aramis the Moluccan cockatoo, Zoey the green wing macaw. They also have two rescued dachshund dogs, Bella and Sissy, and Andhie, a Siamese cat who survived four broken legs and a broken back and is able to walk like a normal cat again.
Once a member of the staff at the Parrot Garden, Wendy spent hours reading and doing research to learn everything she could about these birds. She trained to become the veterinary technician for Parrot Garden as well.