Cee Lo Green Getting Flack For Bringing Cockatoo on The Voice Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 06.24.2012
Bird activists are concerned…
Cee Lo is coming under fire for bringing his cockatoo Lady onto the upcoming season of The Voice. As previously reported, Cee Lo is replacing Purrfect the cat with Lady for the third season, which is now filming. TMZ reports that bird activists are concerned that the stress from the show could cause the Moluccan cockatoo to self-mutilate.
Moluccan cockatoos are endangered animals and are reportedly not good pets. Monica Engrebretson, a self-described Cee Lo fan who is also a rep for the animal rights organization Born Free and an expert on the Moluccan cockatoo, told TMZ, "Moluccan cockatoos are beautiful, intelligent animals but they are very challenging to care for especially in the long term, and are prone to considerable welfare problems. Many Moluccan cockatoos develop self-destructive behavior including feather plucking and self mutilation not known to occur in the wild."
She added, "Many parrot rescues are already filled to capacity with moluccans and other large parrots. I encourage The Voice to reconsider featuring a moluccan cockatoo or any bird as a 'pet' on the show and instead promote a more appropriate companion animal such as a dog. Even better, they could feature a rescue dog or a dog in need of a home. I want to add that I am a huge fan of Cee Lo and I am glad that he appears to be an animal lover."
