The Post Office Parrot Sanctuary
From the outside it looks like any ordinary Post Office but the Post Office on Crwys Road in Cardiff is also a safe haven for abandoned Welsh parrots.
I had been told that the woman who works in the Post Office on Crwys Road often appeared from behind the counter with a parrot on her shoulder.
‘The Parrot Lady’ with her grandson
So I went to investigate and met Janet. Janet has worked at the Crwys Road Post Office for 17 years with her husband. She told me all about her life with seven parrots, working in the post office and offering a safe haven for abandoned parrots.
I walked into the Post Office and asked about the parrots; Janet smiled at me and said: “That’s me, I’m known locally as ‘the parrot lady’
“We can’t have the parrots in here anymore as they’ve got older they have become more aggressive, if anyone comes near me they go for them, it was difficult trying to serve customers while my husband was being chased by a parrot and I’m chasing after them
“They used to be quite a nuisance, pinching coins of the counter. Now we have the grandchildren and the dogs in and they are just as naughty!
“The only time the parrots come here nowadays is if they have to go to the vets, I bought one of them in last week and she kept looking around saying hello to everyone”
Charlie the Macaw in the Post Office
Despite how much of a nuisance the parrots were, Janet clearly really loves her feathered friends. ‘the parrot lady’ owns seven parrots in total, two macaws called Charlie and Poppy, three cocteau’s, a Solomon Islands eclectus and a Jenday conure.
The parrot’s mischievous antics used to be quite the talking point with the customers. “One woman who used to come here was once looking at Charlie and said ‘look at him isn’t he sweet.’ Charlie looked her right in the eye and said ‘bugger off’, when she used to come in after that she would always ask ‘how’s bugger off today’ she called the parrot bugger off until the day she died.”
Janet then told me about her life at home with the birds: “In the evenings I give each parrot half a digestive dipped in tea, but if I leave my cup of tea around they will all go for it.
“Now we run several parrot sanctuaries out of this post office, people come in if they find an abandoned parrot and let us
Post Office/Parrot Sanctuary
know. People know we care about parrots here.
“One of my parrots, George was found in a coal shed and one of our customers had rescued him but could not look after him so they let me know and now he has lived with us for 3 years.
“The parrots we rescue are never sold on and we don’t let people breed from them. People often get parrots as pets and they cannot look after them so they end up being abandoned in out-houses and coal-sheds.”
Customers of the Crwys Road Post Office often donate to the several parrot charities that the Post Office collects for. Janet said: “Our customers have raised £293.01 for our parrot sanctuaries, we also collect for the world parrot trust and we are members of the parrot society.”
Customers often donate to the Post Office’s parrot charities.
So next time your in the Crwys Road Post Office, why not ask ‘the parrot lady’ how her parrots are?
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