I have put off writing this post for as long as possible. Actually, that’s not true – I have written and re-written this five times now. This story has provided more ups and downs, twists and turns than a roller coaster ride. Every day there has been some new developments to report and just as I go to hit the publish button with the latest, something new happens. I have to stop to fill you in at some point. I don’t even know where to begin…
In April, I wrote about Angus rallying your support in signing a petition that would force the RSPCA to take action against Justin Lawther and remove Angus from his care.
The Committee To Save Angus was formed, spearheaded by Mel Vincent, an animal rescuer in Australia, and included others from both sides of the globe. The story spread like wildfire within the avian community. The Angus Facebook page was monitored around the clock, as were the pages of the RSPCA and the Victoria Police.There was, and is, continued news coverage. Everyone now knew and loved Angus – and hated Justin Lawther.
The committee were good enough to include me in their communications, and I was able to watch this story unfold, although most of the information had to be kept quiet so as not to interfere with the investigation. They spoke of the RSPCA’s failure to get the job done and they pressed on with the petition that was designed to humiliate this organization into action. Mel met with them personally to present the petition, which now had thousands of signatures.
The RSPCA functions in an entirely different capacity than does the SPCA here in the states. Here, the SPCA is an empowered animal welfare group that investigate claims of abuse and acts accordingly to build cases that are passed onto the authorities for prosecution. The RSPCA is more like a division of the police force that deals only in animal welfare and are able to act on their own. Animal related cases reported to the police are turned over to the RSPCA.
At the point where it appeared that the RSPCA were dropping the ball and backing out of involvement in the Angus case, the committee decided that the best option left to work with was to get in touch with Lawther themselves. Since it was apparent that he intended to keep this bird, which he always claimed he had bought from a pet store, it was their hope that they could reach him on a human level. The only thing left within anyone’s power at this point was to educate this man about the care of his bird.
Quietly, Mel managed to make contact with him over the phone. What followed shocked us all. Justin Lawther was not a monster. He did not set out to abuse this bird, and in fact, it was clear that he dearly loved Angus. During the course of the conversation, Justin went on to describe an adequate diet and appropriate toys and caging. Mel could hear Angus in the background chattering and whistling. The sounds of a happy, engaged bird.
He later provided pictures and videos that confirmed his description of Angus’ environment. He used words and phrases, such as “socialization”, that are only used by knowledgeable bird owners, showing that he has either done research in bird care or has a great vet backing him up. His vet, says that he did not find him to be a bad bird owner.
When questioned about his actions in the Youtube videos he put up, he did not defend or excuse himself. He had been genuinely shocked by people’s reactions. When he purchased Angus (more on ownership issues further down), his wings had been very badly clipped. Justin feels it is an injustice to deny a bird flight. In his misguided attempt to recreate flight for Angus, the windshield wiper idea was born. Not a choice most of us would have made.
In an article posted to Mel’s website just following the RSPCA’s seizure of Angus, she explained that Justin had owned a galah in the past and was not new to bird ownership. It was his experience, however, that when a parrot was frightened or displeased with the environment, it would choose to bite or fly off. Mel explained to him that, unlike virtually every other species of parrot, the male eclectus’ response to fear is to become very still, quiet and small. It is easy to see how Justin could misread Angus’ body language in the horrific windshield scenario. I am reminded about the part in the video where he believes that Angus has drifted peacefully off to sleep. Still, the word idiot comes to mind.
Mel expressed concern for Angus’ health and asked Justin to vet his bird right away. Regrettably, Justin has been the recipient of countless, vicious threats.This reality had prevented him from taking Angus to the vet in recent weeks.Justin was afraid to surface, not only for fear of physical harm to himself, but for fear that Angus would taken from him, either by the RSPCA or by a citizen taking matters into his own hands.
This was never anyone’s intention, and it should never have gotten to this point. Violence is not an acceptable solution to any problem The committee spent a lot of time removing these threats from the internet, but the anger spewed out at Justin stopped him from getting the care for Angus that the public demanded.
Mel, too, found herself in a similar situation, receiving veiled threats from people insisting that she reveal Justin’s location while indicating that they knew where she lived. Justin’s whereabouts is not information she has ever been in possession of.
Since the RSPCA has taken Angus (he is currently in foster care at an undisclosed location), two important things have come to light. First, Angus’ blood work has come back showing him to be in good health. It was initially feared, due to his feathering and it’s coloring, that he may have been infected with the Avian Polyomavirus which runs rampant in Australia. This concern, while valid, turns out to be untrue.
And secondly, as to ownership, it has been established that this is NOT Carrie Chatter’s stolen eclectus. The one main distinguishing feature that both birds had in common was the unusual chip in the beak. However, microchip papers have shown that Justin’s bird was purchased in September, which is prior to the disappearance of Carrie’s bird. Angus rightfully belongs to Justin.
Justin has learned greatly from this experience. He regrets the error in his thinking and is paying for his mistakes. He states that he is actually glad that he has had to face this ordeal. Without this experience he might have continued riding Angus on his wiper blades so that he could experience a type of “flight”, which he now knows is wrong and dangerous. He wouldn’t have come in contact with the people he has, who looked past his actions, and extended their hands to him in an effort to further educate him about bird ownership and support him through the battles he now faces. How can you hate someone who wants his mistakes be a learning tool for the rest of us? How can you judge someone who wants to learn and move forward?
So, what we are left with is a homeless bird that is missing it’s owner, and an owner that pines for the return of his beloved bird. For whatever reason, the RSPCA sees clear to retain possession of Angus even though no charges have been filed against Justin at this time. This may be explained by the fact that Justin disappeared with the bird once before when the heat was on. Although, given the threats he was receiving, there wasn’t much choice on his part.
Justin doesn’t try to hide his past. He has been less than a law abiding citizen at times. But he is a human being, and I feel compassion for his plight. All of us reading this can easily understand his pain. Once you have experienced the special bond that exists between a bird and its human, it is impossible not to be touched by this story. Surely, we can all sympathize.
But Justin Lawther is turning out to be his own worst enemy. His erratic behavior in recent days may the very thing that secures that he does NOT get his bird back. He is not an eloquent man. He seems to spend a lot of his time with his foot in his mouth. In his grief, he has resorted to acts of desperation and is staging a public hunger strike in the protest of the removal of his bird. He has been the subject of several interviews. In most, he has portrayed himself to be a raving lunatic, which will only turn away public support.
To Justin Lawther: I understand your pain and I feel for you. I know you are not a bad person. Most of all, I know you love your bird. Please follow the good advice that is being given to you. Be calm. Stop and think before you act because what you say and do now will ultimately affect the futures of both Angus and yourself. Public opinion put the wheels of this event in motion, and it will determine the outcome. What happens next is entirely up to you and how you handle this crisis.
Patty Jourgensen specializes in avian health, behavior and nutrition and has been working with and caring for rescue birds since 1987.
70 comments
You stole Angus return him
(It was initially feared, due to his feathering and it’s coloring, that he may have been infected with the Avian Polyomavirus which runs rampant in Australia.) Having had many parrots and being in 5 differant Parrot clubs in Australia. Polyomavirus does not run rampant in Australia its no worse than any other country get your facts right before you publish such dribble.
Thank god this bird has gone to some one who loves and cares for him may he live a long and happy life with some new family who will not treat the poor bird like that ever again bless him xxxx
I cannot excuse this guy’s actions. Every crook who gets caught will provide a story plot to minimize their bad behavior. I don’t care how under educated you are, there isn’t an adult alive that should get away with claiming they didn’t know it was dangerous to drive around with a live creature clinging onto the windshield wiper. What he did was criminally abusive. This bird should go to a good home where he can be loved and cared for the rest of his life. As for Justin, he should go to jail.
Dear Chet, if you are sure about this, PLEASE TALK TO THE RSPCA and tell them that you made a mistake to by not investigating any further on Angus’ walfere. let me tell you something: If someone or something takes my baby birds away from me I WOULD CERTAINTLY BECOME CRAZY AND EVETUALLY DIE!!!!!!!!!! Please help him if you know down deep that he loves Angus. I wish I hadn’t sign your petition. in the future, I may not sign any kind of petition if I am not REALLY SURE :(
I don’t believe he thought he was doing something good or helpful. That’s cruel & stupid & I don’t sympathize with him at all.!! Just because an animal is “healthy” doesn’t mean their not being mistreated.
“ANNIE YOU ARE REALLY A STUPID COW, WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES SO ABUSING A BIRD IS A MISTAKE!!!!” (Wow I had no idea cows could post on blogs!) " HE DOESN’T HAVE A VET, HE ONLY TOOK IT THERE TO TRY AND SAVE HIMSELF FROM BEING CHARGED,…" (Apparently Linda Jones knows Justin Lawler personally…and has access to all his Vet files!) “… I HOPE YOU DON’T OWN A BIRD, YOU PROBABLY THINK ABUSING ANIMALS IS FUN!” (Linda Jones apparently knows Annie as well, and has lots of evidence for her claims!) “MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE STRAPPED TO A CAR SPEEDING OVER 100K ON A HIGHWAY BEFORE YOU MAKE COMMENTS YOU BRAINLESS WHORE.” (Linda finds windshield riding to be a wonderful pasttime and hopes everyone can enjoy it…especially those who have any opinion that opposes her own, because she is always right, and everyone else is wrong, and riding on a windshield will help everyone agree that she should post malicious words in all caps.) “IF HE CARED ABOUT THIS BIRD THEN HE WOULD NOT OF DONE THAT FULL STOP,…” (You’re right Linda, he should have kept going and crashed his car as he totally intended to. Also Linda believes that all human beings are perfect, smart, and incapable of making mistakes; or doing something really, really stupid.) “IT’S NOT A CASE OF ABUSE YOUR ANIMAL THEN YOUR SORRY AND ALL IS FORGIVEN, ALL THE BASTARDS THAT THINK HE SHOULD GET HIS BIRD BACK PROBABLY RAPE THEIR OWN KIDS!” (Not only is everyone perfect, but we mean everything we do, and are unable to learn how to change our ways…we don’t need to because we are perfect. Also, everyone with any opposing opinions should not only get to ride on the windshield of a fast moving vehicle, but they are apparently without a father, and that means they hurt their children….because Linda is an expert on human beings and all their perfections.) “JUST BECAUSE THE BIRDS BLOOD TEST CAME BACK OK, IT DOES NOT MEAN HE WAS LOOKED AFTER, BIRDS CAN SURVIVE ON VERY LITTLE FOOD AND CARE AND LIVE FOR DECADES!!!!” (Blood tests can’t tell you if you have been eating right or lack certain vitamins, they also can’t tell you if you have a disease or are improperly cared for…Birds are very hardy animals that are very hard to kill from negligence or ignorance. They don’t really need any care or food at all to stay healthy and live forever!) “HOW DO YOU KNOW HE HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF VICTORIA, CAN YOU TALK TO THE BIRD YOU MORON,…” (Linda can speak to birds and has heard Angus talk about his plight, and is saying everything that Angus wants to say to us. And anyone that is unable to speak to birds is apparently not very smart, but they are still perfect!) “OTHER LOSER BELOW ANNIE WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES SO ABUSING A BIRD IS A MISTAKE, I’D HATE TO BE YOUR KID YOU STUPID COW. HE IS A GROWN MAN NOT A CHILD YOU SLUT OF COURSE HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING.” (Linda knows that the poster below Annie tends to lose at a lot of games because she knows her personally as well, but she is still perfect! Linda also does not ever want to be the calf of an imperfect bovine, and because she knows Justin deeply inside and out, she knows that he is therefore grown up and perfect, and everything he did was to try and kill his bird that he spent loads of money to feed and care for, because thats what perfect people do.) Yes Linda,….you TOTALLY make sense. Hopefully everyone understands that apparently the day you posted was opposite day, otherwise this wouldn’t look like much a joke to the other posters! And I’m sure everyone would love to say thank you for all the wonderful comments about them on opposite day! :D
It’s true that we’ve all made mistakes as parents, but a few things stand out to me in this situation: Justin states that he wanted Angus to ‘feel the wind through his feathers’. Even if the intent was innocent, did that really require speeds of 100 km/hr? His previous experience with birds were biting or flying away. How did he expect Angus to fly away with his wings clipped, even if that were his natural response? During the video at one point, it was bleeped out, but he said to Angus, ’Don’t you bleeping move. And what in Heaven’s name happened to Angus’ tail feathers? Justin bought Angus in September, which means he had him for almost 9 months. If he has such a great vet, who did the hack job on his wings? He was sooo shocked at the response to his video that during his interview he stated that “no, it did not mean that he would not do it again. It meant that he would think about it.” Angus’ safety and well being should be the only consideration in this case. Take all of the facts into consideration and then, hopefully, the right decision will be made.
If Angus is unhappy where he is living now, he should be allowed to be reunited with his owner, (HE has been proven to be “not stolen”), he was in good health with his owner, and his owner seemed to want to show him what it felt like to have the wind blow through his feathers, yes birds have wings so they can FLY, silly thought isn’t it, in captivity they are suddenly clipped and expected to become human instead of being a bird!! OK so maybe he went about it the wrong way…try putting Angus on the handlebars of a bike and walk with it,or if he won’t stay there, try riding the bike with him on your shoulder, believe it or not the bird will hang on and love it, and you don’t have to peddle very fast, i know birds personally that love this little bike ride on the lawn, short little ride but they enjoy it :)
Starkist June 1st When I don’t have any firsthand information, I try to trust in the people who do. I respect animals. They innocently expect you to do the right thing. I respect other people and believe they will do the right thing too, if they are shown a little tolerence. What’s with all the angry, hate comments?
There is a man in my town who frequently takes his blue and gold macaw for rides on his motorcycle. So far nothing has happened to him. I do not condone this because accidents between cars and motorcycles are common, so why place your precious pet in harms way just to look cool. But the bird seems well cared for and not in distress once the bike is parked. Hard to observe it while the bike is going down the road. It stays put on the handlebars even in a large, noisy crowd.
With guidance, assistance and regular checks by relevant authorities, I would like to see Justin, who it appears is much maligned, reunited with his bird, who probably is also pining for him!
What about taking a bird on a bicycle ride? Or on a horse ride all the while the bird is sitting on your shoulders in a secure harness? What are your feelings about that? I do agree with the person who stated that a rock or a gust of wind could have done some significant damage to Angus. (glady, that did not happen)!!! But what about the people who take their birds with them on a bicycle ride? You are moving along at a decent pace..anything could happen…or what about people who ride with their bird on their horses with the bird in a safety harness riding on the owners shoulder? The horse could spook and the rest is history. I would love to hear your comments about the above scenarios.
I’m not perfect either, but I’m not posting blatent errors on YouTube. That alone got me to sign and that alone makes me say Angus stays away. I would want that to happen to me if I was posting dangerous situations like that on YouTube, regardless of how I otherwise treat my pets. Seriously. Clipped wings mean the bird can’t fly. Can’t fly means he can’t save himself if something goes wrong. And the driver can’t save the bird either from inside the car. Sorry, no. Angus is where he needs to be now. Here’s hoping his next home does all the right things without the wrong ones. As for threats, in a perfect world there would be no such thing. We need to grow up. Now that we know that he was taking good care of the bird in all other ways, we know he’s not the monster we first thought. Thank you for this news. It’s always a good thing to have the whole story even if it makes you second guess your actions. I feel for him. I would also be hurting if my birds were taken for some stupid thing I made public. But like others have said, children are removed from abusive parents whether the parents, or the children, want that or not.
Dianna is 100% correct. How many of you out there have committed unthinking acts against your own children?
I agree with Cookie Keener. The bird is being cared for and Justin will learn from his mistakes. And i believe he won’t do such a thing again in his life as he is paying dearly for it.
Charge him with a crime or give Angus back to him. How many people out there can be truly honest and say they’ve never committed an unthinking act with their children, due to inexperience and ignorance. It’s always easy to criticize, not so easy to look at ones self, and see that those same flaws you’re ranting about are a reflection of yourself. He understood once he was explained the difference between bird breeds and their behaviors. The vet even said Angus was well cared for and healthy, so for the RSPCA to continue withholding Angus is nothing short of theft. As for Justin’s previous behavior, since when did that go on trial? I’d be upset too. Public opinion should not decide legal matters. That is what courts of law are for. And if Angus is attached to Justin, then there will be a very angry and dysfunctional bird when this is over.
i am so pleased that the rspca now have ANGUS in their care, and grateful for the update, does justin lawther have mental health issues, which is what it seems that we are reading,he should not get ANGUS back, and hopefully he will not get anymore animals,!!!!! please rspca keep ANGUS somewhere SAFE for the rest of his life, birds cannot protect themselves from cruel humans,hope this beautiful bird has a good life from now on?!!!
what a great pair; hope they can have a life long friendship forever….
okay; I sorta like and understand Justin; but both Angus and Justin got to stop smokin’ them cane toads! So I like both; hope to be able visit all in me life time very soon.
I hadn’t heard about this matter until I read the above comment from Chet Womack regarding the history of the story. The bottom line for the RSPCA must be the safety and welfare of the bird, NOT the Idiot that owns him. While it is all fine and well to try to “educate and correct”, when the owner is someone like Justin L who keeps shooting himself in the foot at every turn it is apparent he simply isn’t capable of caring for Angus and as such Angus was correctly removed from his custody. It is just too bad the RSPCA has no legal clout in the court system but… the bird was removed from an irresponsible owner and has lived to tell the tale so to speak. He is the lucky one. Assuming this might be the final leg of the tale and that the info coming out of Australia is correct, Angus is fortunate to still be alive. The owner has shown he does not have the mental capacity to properly care for this bird and as such the bird was removed from his care. Period. Nothing was said about the owner’s history. Making poor choices can mean just about anything. Does this owner’s history also include any addiction or mental competency issues? One can only assume the comment made about the owner being “less than law abiding” also might mean some sort of criminal record for other dealings and issues? The RSPCA did the right thing. It is unfortunate it took public opinion to get the RSPCA to act but it finally did and the bird is hopefully in a far safer environment now (and vaccinated for the Polyoma virus which is seemingly indigenous to Australia). The bird deserves a safe home with an owner that has more than one or two brain cells operating at the same timethat realizes placing a living animal on a windshield wiper of a moving car is NOT SAFE. Angus is much better off where he is right now. Justin L is a misguided person who has more than reflected he is not capable of making decisions regarding the care and safety of Angus not to mention has no common sense. Here’s hoping a good family/owner can be found for Angus who is the only innocent in this whole mess that deserves a 2nd chance with someone else who will love and care for him in a safe manner.
I hadn’t heard about this matter until I read the above comment from Chet Womack regarding the history of the story. The bottom line for the RSPCA must be the safety and welfare of the bird, NOT the Idiot that owns him. While it is all fine and well to try to “educate and correct”, when the owner is someone like Justin L who keeps shooting himself in the foot at every turn it is apparent he simply isn’t capable of caring for Angus and as such Angus was correctly removed from his custody. It is just too bad the RSPCA has no legal clout in the court system but… the bird was removed from an irresponsible owner and has lived to tell the tale so to speak. He is the lucky one. Assuming this might be the final leg of the tale and that the info coming out of Australia is correct, Angus is fortunate to still be alive. The owner has shown he does not have the mental capacity to properly care for this bird and as such the bird was removed from his care. Period. Nothing was said about the owner’s history. Making poor choices can mean just about anything. Does this owner’s history also include any addiction or mental competency issues? One can only assume the comment made about the owner being “less than law abiding” also might mean some sort of criminal record for other dealings and issues? The RSPCA did the right thing. It is unfortunate it took public opinion to get the RSPCA to act but it finally did and the bird is hopefully in a far safer environment now (and vaccinated for the Polyoma virus which is seemingly indigenous to Australia). The bird deserves a safe home with an owner that has more than one or two brain cells operating at the same timethat realizes placing a living animal on a windshield wiper of a moving car is NOT SAFE. Angus is much better off where he is right now. Justin L is a misguided person who has more than reflected he is not capable of making decisions regarding the care and safety of Angus not to mention has no common sense. Here’s hoping a good family/owner can be found for Angus who is the only innocent in this whole mess that deserves a 2nd chance with someone else who will love and care for him in a safe manner.
As dumb as the stunt was you shouldn’t overlook intent. He didn’t intend to traumatize poor little Angus and seems to be remorseful and educated for the experience. Angus would seem to be fine. Leave it alone.
Please. Please , Please …. do not return little Angus back to Justin! He maybe a bit stupid , but he is also an Abuser , who does not deserve to have pets nor children !!!!!
What’s to stop Lawther from going out and acquiring another poor bird? I will accept the author’s opinion that Lawther is not a bad man, but many animals suffer primarily due to the carelessness, laziness and ignorance of their owners. (I have neighbors who live in a 2 bedroom hous with 7 dogs. The people are gone for 12 hours everyday and leave the dogs in the house. In the 3 months they have been there, they have never once walked the dogs or played in the yard with them. The SPCA had to threaten them with a fine if they caught the dogs tied up all day in the yard again, so now the dogs never get out. The people claimed to have the dogs because they were “animal lovers.” ) Some people should not have pets or children and a lengthy training session and test should be required before either is allowed.
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