AN internet campaign is calling for the release of two parrots kept in a tank in a Camden Town bar.
More than 50 messages have been posted to the parrot-link.co.uk messageboard concerning Lulu and Pinga, the pair of one-year-old African Grey Parrots on display in Made in Brasil, in Inverness Street.
But owner Chris Singham insists they are treated like family members. He said: “I don’t have any children and so I have the parrots instead.”
One patron, who goes by the internet username Poshscouse, told the New Journal they were horrified to discover the parrots in the bar after eating in the restaurant downstairs.
She said: “We couldn’t believe they were in there with the noise and smoke of the bar. They looked very stressed with no foliage to hide away from onlookers’ gazes. My friends and I will certainly not be returning to the restaurant until they remove the parrots – it is totally unnecessary and irresponsible for them to be there.”
A sign by the parrots’ tank says they have the intellectual capacity of a five-year-old child and the emotional intelligence of a two-year-old. David Woodbury, who runs the parrot-link website, said: “I would urge all residents to contact the RSPCA and those responsible for licensing this bar. I would have thought people would not want to be associated with this kind of thoughtless cruelty.”
The RSPCA said it had received three complaints about the parrots, and an inspector had visited the bar on more than one occasion to check on their welfare.
An RSPCA spokesman said: “These are not ideal conditions. Our inspector gave advice to the owners but in the absence of physical suffering we cannot make them do anything.”
Owner Mr Singham said: “The cage is made of fireglass and there is no possibility of smoke penetration, and the fireglass also prevents noise getting in. Their beaks are manicured once a month and they are washed every week. Every night the cage is opened and they have free run of a larger enclosure.”