Just as there are those who rescue dogs and cats from the street, help them recover if they are injured and give a home to those they need, in certain situations birds also need human love and care. Daniela, a resident of Lanús (Buenos Aires, Argentina), has been dedicated to rescuing and curing birds that are in danger for more than six years.
It is not very common to find a shelter where there are rescued birds. For many, they are free souls. On the street we see thousands of pigeons from one side to the other, birds that fly without stopping, parrots that stop on the cables, owls that come out at night. Despite that, some need the love and help of a person like Daniela Festorazzi.
It all started when he found an injured pigeon on the street. “I didn't know where to take her, what to do or what to feed her. I realized that there is no information about it,” says Nani, as she is known in the neighborhood. And she adds: “I found a super difficult world.”
He named the first pigeon he rescued Susana. “Everyone told me that I was going to die or that I was going to get sick, that I was going to catch some disease, they put fear and pressure on me,” says the rescuer. “Clearly I didn't pay attention to them, I took her to a veterinarian, I took care of her, she improved and she can be released,” she points out.
"It is very difficult for someone to catch a disease from caring for or passing through a bird," says the Lanús resident. "Nothing is going to happen to them, I rescue around 500 birds, I have them in my house and they never infect me with anything," she highlights.
The search ability of pigeons is legendary, they have a lot of visual memory, so Susana returned days later, already recovered, to Daniela's life. She appeared at the door of the dietician where Nani currently worked. “I recognized her and couldn't believe it, I started crying and gave her some seeds. There I realized that they feel and understand like any animal,” Daniela confessed.
From that moment on, the 31-year-old neighbor's gaze changed. She looked for professionals and trained herself on what she didn't know about birds. She works with the help of a veterinary doctor specialized in birds, Héctor Funes.
Currently, he not only lives with pigeons, but also has more than 30 birds of different species in his house. In detail, it has two birds of prey, two mixed hawks, which were disabled, a parrot, roosters, parrots and a chiriri cat, among other birds.
“Some are in treatment and I have them until they are ready to release them, but others were disabled, for example by a gunshot, and have already settled here,” says Daniela, about how she came to have so many birds in her home.
But despite being a great help to birds that are in danger and doing what she does from the heart, Daniela had a childhood that helped her see reality. Her father, as she calls him, actively practiced the Umbanda religion.
"I grew up with the image of a parent who mostly sat at the dinner table with minced animal meat on his white boots, with blood on his clothes and a smell that to this day I remember as if it were there again," he posted. through his social networks along with a photo of him with two black doves.
He also says that he grew up seeing the things they do to animals, especially birds. How they bathe people in chicken blood. "Today I have no relationship with my father, despite the trauma that this caused me, I thank her, because it leads me to be more empathetic today," said Daniela.
The bird rescuer today publishes her acts of love and care through social networks (rescatando.anh), but also asks for collaborations from those who want to help and can donate to be able to continue supporting the costs of transportation, care, and food. and medicine.
