On November 17th, crews from United Illuminating, the USDA, and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection began killing off Connecticut's population of free-range monk parakeets (otherwise known as monk parrots) using carbon dioxide gas.
When news of this action, which was evidently planned in secret and funded with public funds without taxpayer input, was exposed in a Connecticut newspaper, a firestorm of public opposition erupted.
Activists opposed to the plan derided it as brutal, immoral, and unthinking, given that other Northeast utility companies have managed to manage their monk parrot populations without killing the birds. While a spokesman for United Illuminating insists it will continue with the killings, activists hope that legal injunctions, along with increasing publicity outreach efforts, will derail the effort.
To read the latest on this story and acess further resources, please visit the following page: http://www.brooklynparrots.com/2005/11/you-can-help-stop-killing-of-wild.html
http://www.freeparrots.net/article.php?story=20051120100012962