City Parrots

Sadie Want an Unreal?

We had a most pleasant conversation recently with Jim Eggers, who was eager to tout the virtues of the Congo African Gray parrot as service animal.

Before he met Sadie, the 40-year-old Maplewood resident says, he mostly associated the concept of “service animals” with dogs. But in fact, the Americans with Disabilities Act contains an intentionally broad definition of the term: “any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability.”

Eggers hasn’t heard of any other parrots used as service animals. (Neither has Unreal.) Still, like many other disabled Americans, he experienced hassles in venues where pets are typically unwelcome - on public transportation, for instance (he doesn’t own a car), or while apartment-hunting. But he says an ID card he recently purchased from a Texas-based outfit called the Service Animal Registry of America tends to smooth any ruffled feathers.

“I can get her aboard the transit system,” Eggers says. “She comes with me to my psychiatrist appointments and any medical appointments.

Eggers is bipolar and gets by on disability payments from the Social Security Administration. The government, he says, deems him severely depressed, with psychotic tendencies. “I hate to say that, but it’s true,” Eggers admits. “Anxiety attacks can cause me to get psychotic, and I can wind up getting into a lot of trouble with the law. I’ve been abused pretty bad since I was a kid, and I have had nothing but negative interactions with people for many years. Her being with me - she goes in a backpack - attracts a lot of people. And we interact in a very positive fashion.”

Eggers says Sadie was neglected when he acquired her secondhand a little over a year ago from a pet shop. “She was a feather-picker and looked horrible,” he says. “I started giving her baths, lots of love and attention. I started saying things like, ‘I love you,’ ‘Give me a kiss,’ and she started asking questions like, ‘Are you OK?’ It was lots of repetition in trying to talk me through anger periods.”

He believes the parrot can sense when his mood is souring. “She says, ‘Calm down, it’s OK’; ‘You’ll be OK’; ‘I love you.’”

He says Sadie does a pretty good imitation of him.

“It’s almost like looking into a mirror - in other words she’s helping keep me in check and keeping me well behaved. I’m really thankful for her. You know?”