Agenda, first session — Del Mar City Council, January 6, 2025

Del Mar City Council Meeting Agenda
Del Mar Town Hall
1050 Camino del Mar, Del Mar, California
January 6, 2025 City Council Meeting

INFORMATION RECEIVED

AFTER THE COUNCIL AGENDA

WAS DISTRIBUTED
(“Red Dots”)
1 Melinda Gould
From: Amit Dhuleshia <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2025 5:10 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

City Clerk Sarah Krietor,
Dear Del Mar City Council,
I am writing to express my strong support for Agenda Item 8, which seeks to adopt the initiative measure to amend the City’s Retail Pet Sales Ordinance. I urge the City Council to adopt the measure as an ordinance, without alteration.

This ordinance will make Del Mar the first city in California to extend its retail pet sales ban beyond dogs, cats, and rabbits. While Del Mar currently has no retail pet stores, passing this ordinance proactively prevents such businesses from opening in the future, aligning with the City’s previous action on banning the retail sale of certain animals.

In addition to promoting animal welfare, this ordinance will ease the burden on shelters and rescues by reducing the number of animals abandoned due to misrepresentation as "beginner pets." It will also help protect the environment by curbing the spread of invasive species from abandoned non-native pets.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Amit Dhuleshia
[email protected]
2665 5Th Ave, Unit 308
San Diego, California 92103
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Mason Melito <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2025 5:12 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Mason Melito
[email protected]
San Diego, California 92114
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Melanie Bazzell <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2025 5:27 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Melanie Bazzell
[email protected]
4551 Winona Ave
San Diego, California 92115
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Camila Alaasam <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2025 5:41 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Camila Alaasam
[email protected]
2645 Carlsbad Boulevard, Apt 1
Carlsbad, California 92008
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Marina Boom <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2025 7:58 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

City Clerk Sarah Krietor,
Dear Del Mar City Council,
I am a Del Mar resident and am writing to express my strong support for Agenda Item 8, which seeks to adopt the initiative measure to amend the City’s Retail Pet Sales Ordinance. I urge the City Council to adopt the measure as an ordinance, without alteration.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Marina Boom
[email protected]
San Diego, California 92014
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Cecilia Smith <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 3, 2025 7:54 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

City Clerk Sarah Krietor,
Dear Del Mar City Council,
As a resident at 125 Sherrie Ln, I’m urging you support Agenda Item 8, adopting the initiative measure to amend the City’s Retail Pet Sales Ordinance, without alteration.

This ordinance will make Del Mar the first city in California to extend its retail pet sales ban beyond dogs, cats, and rabbits.

While Del Mar currently has no retail pet stores, passing this ordinance proactively prevents such businesses from opening in the future, aligning with the City’s previous action on banning the retail sale of certain animals.

In addition to promoting animal welfare, this ordinance will ease the burden on shelters and rescues by reducing the number of animals abandoned due to misrepresentation as "starter pets” such as guinea pigs and rabbits which actually need special care.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Cecilia Smith
[email protected]
San Diego, California 92014
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Liz Cabrera Holtz <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 3, 2025 11:12 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance Attachments: Support for Agenda Item 8 - World Animal Protection.pdf Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Hello,
Attached is a comment in support of Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance from World Animal Protection.

Best,
Liz Cabrera Holtz
Senior Campaigns Manager
World Animal Protection
January 6, 2025 Item 08

Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance Liz Cabrera Holtz, Senior Campaigns Manager, World Animal Protection World Animal Protection, an international animal advocacy organization with members in Del Mar, strongly supports prohibitions on the sale of animals in pet stores. Virtually all animals sold in pet stores are sourced from mills where animals are bred in cruel conditions. Prohibiting the sale of animals in pet stores would protect animals and Del Mar consumers.

Few Federal or State Protections for Animals in Mills
While the federal Animal Welfare Act does regulate small mammal and bird mills, it provides minimal protections and is chronically underenforced.1 Mills regulated by the Animal Welfare Act have long track records of poor animal care. Even facilities with prolific histories of neglect and abuse are rarely shut down. Instead, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) may issue warnings, negligible fines, or take no action at all.

For example:
• Holmes Farm housed more than 15,000 animals and supplied guinea pigs and other small mammals to pet stores, including PetSmart and Petco. Animals were killed with carbon dioxide or left to die in freezers, even as some tried to escape. USDA inspection reports documented numerous Animal Welfare Act violations, including decomposing animals, filthy cages, cannibalization, and animals in desperate need of veterinary care.2 o In a single USDA inspection of Holmes Farm, the inspector noted ill animals with lethargy, hair loss, scabbing, skin conditions, diarrhea, and eye abnormalities, freshly and partially cannibalized hamsters, animals exhibiting abnormal stereotypic behavior, dead animals in cages with live animals, and filthy conditions, including water bottles with algae growing inside them. 3
• Joshua Stoltzfus, the owner of a guinea pig and rabbit mill, pled guilty to two counts of animal neglect for housing guinea pigs in overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions and January 6, 2025 Item 08
• failing to provide necessary veterinary care to guinea pigs with open wounds.4 Prior to his conviction, USDA inspection reports documented numerous Animal Welfare Act violations, including for keeping animals in filthy conditions. Photos from the USDA inspection show animals held in cages encrusted with feces, grime, and old food.5 • A parakeet mill that houses and sells thousands of birds annually was recently cited by the USDA for keeping birds in an extremely hot barn. Inspectors found a heat index of 110 degrees. There were multiple dead birds inside the barn, and other birds were visibly in distress.6
No Legal Protections for Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish There are no protections for fish, reptiles, and amphibians sold in pet stores because the Animal Welfare Act excludes them. These animals are sourced from vendors that are completely unregulated—the industry is accountable to no one. While the Lacey Act prohibits the importation of wildlife under inhumane conditions, it is underenforced, and conditions have only been stipulated for mammals and birds.7 There have been no prosecutions for animal mistreatment under the Lacey Act in more than 20 years.

Betta fish are commonly sold in stores in inhumane conditions. Pet stores generally display betta fish in tiny plastic containers, sometimes stacked eight fish high (see image below for standard pet store display). These containers are a fraction of the size that betta fish need. They also lack enrichment, filtration, and temperature control, resulting in many betta fish dying before leaving the store shelf (see image below for an example of a betta fish before and after receiving care).

Though fish have historically been excluded from legal protection, they are sentient beings.

Substantial empirical evidence shows that fish experience emotions and pain in a manner similar to vertebrates.8 Behaviors seen in nonhuman primates have also been observed in fish. For example, despite myths about “three-second memories,” fish can recognize other fish and solve puzzles.9 Animal Sales Increase the Burden on Shelters and Sanctuaries Stores selling animals increase the burden on struggling rescues and shelters. • Small mammals like guinea pigs, hamsters, and mice are frequently surrendered to shelters because they’re not “starter pets” as some stores advertise. Instead, they require specific, 4 5
6 7
8 9
January 6, 2025 Item 08
sometimes expensive care. It can also be challenging to find veterinarians experienced in small mammals.
• Betta fish also require much more complicated care than a glass bowl and a can of fish food.

Though pet stores routinely display betta fish in tiny containers, a betta fish needs a five (ideally ten) gallon tank with a filter and a heater. Their habitats also need enrichments like live plants, caves, and other places to hide. Their tanks must be cleaned regularly. Sadly, many betta fish die soon after they’re purchased due to poor consumer education. • Because most bird guardians are not equipped to meet birds’ complex physical, social, and psychological needs in a home environment, behavioral issues and conflicts often arise between humans and birds. This ultimately results in countless unwanted birds entering the bird rescue system, which is grossly underfunded and overwhelmed. With limited rescue organizations and sanctuaries available to address this growing crisis, the pet industry continues to flood the market with millions of birds, exacerbating the problem.

Selling animals in pet stores is increasingly a thing of the past. Washington, DC, Cambridge, MA, and Arlington, MA, have banned the retail sale of most species. At least twelve cities have banned the retail sale of species other than cats, dogs, and rabbits, such as Boston and New York City (banning the retail sale of guinea pigs).

Thank you for your consideration. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or if I can provide further assistance.

Image of typical betta fish display in a pet store (source – Friends of Philip Fish Sanctuary):

January 6, 2025 Item 08
Image of a betta fish in poor health and after recovery (source – Friends of Philip Fish Sanctuary):

January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Suzan Sargsyan <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 3, 2025 9:35 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

January 6, 2025 Item 08
2 Suzan Sargsyan
[email protected]
San Diego, California 92037
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Samantha Prado <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 3, 2025 12:13 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

January 6, 2025 Item 08
2 Samantha Prado
[email protected]
San Diego, California 92114
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: William Richter <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 3, 2025 2:39 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

This ordinance should be a “no brainer.” Passing this ordinance would prevent any business from selling these animals in the future and it would align with the City’s previous action on banning the retail sale of certain animals.

In addition to promoting animal welfare, this ordinance would reduce the number of animals abandoned due to misrepresentation as "beginner pets." It will also help protect the environment by curbing the spread of invasive species from abandoned non-native pets.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

William Richter
[email protected]
Chula Vista, California 92014
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: FW:

Attachments: adoptlovebird.pdf; parrot chew.jpeg; parrot wall.jpeg; parrotchew2.mp4; parrothnl.mp4; parrotsaspets.pdf; AvianWelfareBrochure4printing.pdf
Melinda Gould | Administrative Assistant
City of Del Mar | Administrative Services Department
1050 Camino del Mar, Del Mar, CA 92014
858-704-3633 | [email protected]
City Hall is open for public services Monday-Thursday, from 7:30 AM- 5:30 PM and Remote Service only on Friday from 7:30 AM- 4:30 PM. Counter hours for Planning and Building services are Monday and Wednesday between 1:00 PM to 5:30 PM or by appointment. All remote services will continue to be provided during regular City hours. Please check our City website at www.delmar.ca.us for more information.

From: Mia Kingston <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2025 4:39 PM
To: Planning Mail Box <[email protected]>; City Clerk Mail Box <[email protected]> Cc: Amanda Fox <[email protected]>
Subject:

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
***Please also see bottom links, info & attachments from supporting orgs, evidence. Thank you Dear Del Mar City Council & planning,
I am writing to express my strong support for Agenda Item 8, which seeks to adopt the initiative measure to amend the City’s Retail Pet Sales Ordinance. I urge the City Council to adopt the measure as an ordinance, without alteration.

In addition to promoting Avian/ Bird, animal welfare, this ordinance will ease the burden on Bird/ Parrot shelters and rescues by reducing the number of animals, Birds, surrendered & abandoned due to misrepresentation as "beginner pets." It will also help protect the environment by curbing the spread of invasive species from abandoned non-native pets.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight. I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support!
****Please also see...
www.avianwelfare.org
January 6, 2025 Item 08
2 & Created by Avian Welfare Coalition -
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/716/488/144/ Petco & PetSmart: Stop Selling Birds
by: Avian Welfare Coalition
recipient: J.K. Symancyk, CEO, PetSmart; Ron Coughlin, CEO, Petco 74,459 SUPPORTERS 75,000 GOAL
Please sign: We need Petco and PetSmart to stop selling birds. Retail sale of birds promotes the suffering of millions of individuals, who are kept in conditions unsuitable to express their natural behaviors, released outdoors to die, or relinquished to overburdened and unprepared shelters.

Whether the bird is wild-caught or captive-bred, their welfare in captivity is frequently poor. It is very difficult to meet the needs of these intelligent, highly social, flight-adapted animals in a home environment. Sadly, many natural parrot behaviors are often the very ones that lead to relinquishment or abuse of the bird.

It is simply impossible for Petco and PetSmart to conduct the necessary screening, education, and post-placement follow-up and support that rescue groups typically engage in when they place birds in private homes.

Here are some of the common fates faced by birds purchased in retail pet stores:

Spend the bulk of their days confined to a cage incapable of accommodating flight and other natural behaviors.

Released outside, where they will soon perish, when their purchasers tire of them.

Relinquished to shelters that are already overwhelmed with unwanted animals.

Petco and PetSmart first eliminated the sale of dogs and cats, then rabbits and larger species of birds, such as cockatoos, macaws, and African greys, due to ethical concerns. Now, it's time to take the next step.

At a time when many companies are focusing on sustainability and social responsibility, Petco and PetSmart should recognize the sale of captive birds is incongruent with those goals and will commit to ending all bird sales by 2025." https://www.avianwelfare.org/action/flyers/adoptlovebird.pdf "Like dogs and cats, birds are now facing an epidemic of overpopulation and homelessness.

There are not enough homes — especially good homes — for every bird bred! Small birds are the most common victims.

Electrical damage: Monk parakeets can damage electrical lines and utility poles, which can lead to power outages.

Nests: Their nests can catch fire due to their proximity to wires." From https://www.allianceforparrots.org/parrot-crisis
" Captive parrots are one of the most frequently abandoned of all companion animals. A parrot's wild nature and natural inclination for loud and frequent vocalizations, aggression, flying, mating, and destruction of property are too much for most guardians. Most often it is not so much a parrot's failure as a pet as it is a human's failure as a guardian. A human's decision to bring a parrot into a home environment without understanding or being able to meet the fundamental needs of this flighted, wild animal precipitates the failure of a parrot to thrive as a pet.

Further complicating factors include standard pet industry practices, such as hand-rearing (i.e., parental deprivation), that actually undermine a parrot's ability to mature into a psychologically healthy, well-adjusted adult bird, and increases the likelihood of a bird's failure as a "pet". Even the most well-meaning, loving parrot guardians often find themselves unable to care for their longtime pets in the event of declining health, financial struggle, stress, or other life circumstances.

All of this, coupled with parrots' long life spans (between 20-80 years) and the estimated 3-5 million baby birds bred in the U.S. each year, has created a true crisis of unwanted parrots with nowhere to go. Sanctuaries across the globe are at capacity, unable to address the daily requests for surrender."
https://www.rocketcitynow.com/video/news/local/video-rescues-urge-changes-after-death-of-bird-bought-from-bix-box-store/ January 6, 2025 Item 08
3 Rescues urge changes after
death of bird bought from bigbox store
https://www.worldanimalprotection.us/latest/blogs/little-buddys-death-is-one-more-reason-that-petco-must-stop-selling-animals Little Buddy’s Death Is One More Reason That
Petco Must Stop Selling Animals
BLOG
23 October 2023
By Liz Cabrera Holtz
Little Buddy, a one-year-old black-capped conure, died shortly after she was rescued from a Petco in Madison, Alabama. Prior to her death, multiple customers complained to management that she looked very sick.

Little Buddy’s Tragically Short Life and Death
In August, Michele Vice, the head of Our Little Flock bird rescue, received a message on social media asking her to check on a bird at the Madison, Alabama Petco. Immediately upon seeing Little Buddy, Michele knew there was something wrong.

Employees told Michele that Little Buddy would be taken to a vet, but not an avian vet. It’s critical that birds be treated by avian vets who have specialized knowledge other vets usually lack. It’s easy to miss signs of illness and disease in birds if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

When Michele returned a few days later, she was told that Little Buddy was healthy. One of the managers even complained that she was “tired of people coming in here and asking me about this bird.”
Worried that Little Buddy was running out of time, Michele took action, bringing her home and then to an avian vet. But only 24 hours later, Little Buddy died.

January 6, 2025 Item 08
4 A necropsy determined Little Buddy “was dehydrated and had a poor body condition score with little body fat,” with lesions indicating “that this bird had been ill for some time with chronic weight loss.”
January 6, 2025 Item 08
5 January 6, 2025 Item 08
6 From Bird Mill to Pet Store, Animals Suffer at Every Stage Just like puppy mills, birds are bred in mills where hundreds or thousands of animals are held in cramped, dirty conditions. It’s expected that some of them will die, it’s just seen as the cost of doing business. Many animals bred in mills arrive at pet stores sick or even dead.

According to the documents that Petco gave to Our Little Flock, Little Buddy was born at Sun Pets, a notorious mill in Atlanta, Georgia where countless animals--from hamsters to guinea pigs to birds--have been tortured and died. Sun Pets has received a litany of Animal Welfare Act violations from the US Department of Agriculture for problems such as lack of veterinary care, ill and dying animals, and failure to provide water. Sun Pets is not an outlier—this is the way the industry operates.

Mia Kingston
Animal Rights Initiative
[email protected]
www.animalrightsinitiative.org
IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential. They are intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to anyone or make copies thereof.

Please consider the environment before printing this email January 6, 2025 Item 08
The facts about keeping
PARROTS AS “PETS”
The facts about keeping
PARROTS AS “PETS”
The facts about keeping
PARROTS AS “PETS”
The facts about keeping
PARROTS AS “PETS”
•
•
•
•
•
Parrots bite and chew — you and your home!
Parrots are messy and active!
Parrots scream, but many do not talk!
Most parrots won’t learn cute tricks!
Parrots are social and need daily attention!
•
•
•
•
•
Some parrots never bond with humans!
Parrots need to be served a varied diet!
Parrots are sensitive to household products!
Parrot cages, toys, and vet visits are expensive!
Large parrots can live up to 80 years — will you?
Whether captured in the wild or born in captivity, parrots are not domesticated animals like cats and dogs. They are still wild animals. Their natural curiosity, sensitivity, intellect, playfulness, and ability to form bonds with humans can tempt people to keep them in captivity. Unfortunately, the traits that make parrots so intriguing are the same ones that make them extremely difficult to live with as companion animals. Many parrots find themselves displaced as their natural behaviors and needs clash with human expectations. Before you buy or adopt a parrot, consider the following facts:

Educating yourself about parrots before bringing one into your life is crucial to solving the homeless parrot problem! Only people who thoroughly understand that parrots are wild animals and who can commit to meeting their demanding needs should consider providing a home for one. Only then will all parrots kept in captivity be properly cared for and appreciated for the wild animals they are, the pet market's demand for “impulse purchased” baby parrots will decrease, and the homeless bird epidemic will become a thing of the past.

Attach your
organization’s
sticker here.
“Rico” (Moluccan Cockatoo) by Dee Thompson
January 6, 2025 Item 08
Providing care for a parrot
(including parakeets, cockatiels,
and lovebirds) requires:

A varied diet—not just seeds but grains, beans,
vegetables (cooked and raw), formulated
pellets, and some fruit. (Harmful foods include
chocolate, avocado, highly processed or overly salted
foods, human junk food, and caffeine.)
Daily exercise, preferably to include free flying
in a safe, supervised environment.

A variety of toys and enrichment activities.

Veterinary care from a veterinarian who
specializes in birds.

The largest enclosure possible.

Plenty of socialization with other birds and/or
human caretakers.

Natural sunlight or full-spectrum lighting.

Regular baths or misting with fresh water.

Adequate sleep (at least 10 hours of darkness
and quiet recommended).

Good air quality. Dangers include: tobacco
smoke; teflon and other non-stick coated
cookware, appliances and self-cleaning
ovens; cleaning products; scented candles; aerosols
and pump sprays.

Bird-proofing the home to keep birds away
from lead, zinc, paints, ceiling fans, electrical
cords, and open windows.

You can help captive parrots in many ways:

Don’t Breed. Don’t Buy. Adopt! If you feel
that you are qualified to care for an exotic
bird, contact your local avian adoption or
placement facility or your local animal shelter or
humane society. Visit our website for adoption options:
www.avianwelfare.org.

Advocate for responsible legislation that will
expand legal protection for exotic birds in
captivity and in the wild. If you would like to
work on legislation in your state to help parrots, please contact us for assistance.

Educate others about the unique characteristics
and needs of exotic birds by speaking at bird
clubs, schools, humane organizations, or other
public events or simply by distributing the educational materials available at www.avianwelfare.org.

Participate in National Bird Day: www.
nationalbirdday.org.

Don’t patronize pet stores that sell live birds and
other animals. Shop only at stores that do not
treat live animals like merchandise. Report pet
shop conditions to the AWC’s Pet Store Watch at www.
petstorewatch.org.

Report parrot abuse, neglect, or poor housing
conditions to your local humane enforcement
authorities.

Support the Avian Welfare Coalition* by
making a donation via www.avianwelfare.org
or by mail to P.O. Box 40212, St. Paul MN 55104.
*Donations to the AWC are not tax-deductible
P.O. Box 40212, St. Paul MN 55104
E-mail: [email protected]
Dedicated to the
Welfare and Protection
of Captive Birds
Baby birds
belong with
their parents,
not in pet stores.

Bonnie Zimmermann
Krista Menzel
January 6, 2025 Item 08
the Avian Welfare Coalition (AWC) is
a working alliance of veterinarians,
conservationists, avian welfare and animal
protection organizations dedicated to
the ethical treatment of parrots and other
captive birds.

The Mission of the AWC is to raise
awareness about the plight of parrots
and other captive birds and to
serve as an educational resource
for the humane community,
lawmakers, and the general
public.

The AWC also aims to prevent the
abuse, exploitation, and suffering
of captive birds, to address issues of
rescue, placement and sanctuary for
displaced birds, to increase legal protections for captive birds and to support legitimate conservation programs
aimed at preserving birds’ rightful place in the wild.

The AWC works toward its goals by facilitating
cooperation among AWC participants, the humane
community and professionals in related fields, by
providing educational resources for animal advocates,
the media, and the general public, and through special
AWC sponsored programs.

Educational Events - AWC participants are
available for consultations and speaking
engagements on a wide range of avian topics.

To book a speaker for your conference, workshop, or
bird club, contact [email protected].

Shelter Outreach - AWC offers assistance
to shelter and animal control organizations
in serving the needs of captive birds. AWC’s
handbook, Captive Exotic Bird Care: A Guide for
Shelters provides animal caregivers with helpful
information on caring for exotic birds in a shelter
setting: housing, nutrition, avian health, veterinary care, behavior, environmental safety, and more..

Public Outreach – The dynamic AWC website,
www.avianwelfare.org, serves as a comprehensive resource for captive bird welfare, complete with downloadable brochures, posters,
and articles. Ordering information for educational
videos on avian issues and the exotic bird trade is also available.

Pet Store Watch – AWC aids in pet shop
monitoring and investigations through our
online evaluation forms available at www.
petstorewatch.org.

National Bird Day – In coordination with Born
Free USA, the AWC has established January 5
as a day of action and education for captive
birds. For details, activities, and how to get involved, visit www.nationalbirdday.org.

Support - AWC collaborates with animal
advocacy organizations, rescue groups, conservation organizations, and local agencies to bring about social, legislative, and public-policy
changes that will improve the lives of captive birds and protect birds in the wild.

Humane Education - Lucky, a chidren's book
that gently awakens children to the plight of
captive birds and birds captured in the wild.
www.LuckyTheLorikeet.com, the book's dedicated
website includes lesson plans and activities designed
to engage children, educators, and parents. 100% of
the proceeds from its sale benefits avian welfare,
rescue, and conservation.

Exotic birds are
not domesticated animals.

Birds commonly
kept as pets are no
different from their
wild relatives.

While they ’re
cute and cuddly
as babies the behavior of parrots often
changes as they reach maturity. They may become
increasingly loud, messy, destructive, and demanding.

A caretaker’s inability to respond appropriately to these changes can lead to the development of maladaptive
and/or dangerous behavior.

Breeding facilities that supply birds to pet stores
often resemble little more than warehouses
in which birds are held in barren cages for
breeding and mass production.

Hand-feeding or captive rearing doesn’t
necessarily guarantee a tame bird.

Birds are often excluded from laws regulating
the care and treatment of animals, making
it difficult for law enforcement agencies
to remove birds from abusive and substandard
conditions.

There are more than 100 avian rescue and
sanctuary facilities in the U.S. Some are filled
to capacity. Many traditional animal shelters
report an increase in the number of birds surrendered,
and many are not equipped to provide proper care
and placement for birds.

Caring for a bird is often a life-long responsibility.

Depending on species, they may live 20 to 50
years or more.

Many parrot species are at risk in the wild due
to habitat destruction and the pet trade.

Jeannie White
Krista Menzel
January 6, 2025 Item 08
Attach your
organization’s
sticker here.

Don’t breed. Don’t buy.

ADOPT !
Don’t breed. Don’t buy.

ADOPT !
Like dogs and cats, birds are now facing an epidemic of overpopulation and homelessness.

There are not enough homes — especially good homes — for every bird bred! Small birds, like the young Peach-faced Lovebirds above, are the most common victims.

Thousands of birds are displaced each year simply because their caretakers can no longer provide the time and attention they require — either because they were not educated about bird care or because their lives and interests change. The least fortunate unwanted birds are passed from home to home before dying from neglect or abuse, or they are euthanized. The lucky ones end up in shelters to await adoption or in sanctuaries to live out their lives on their own terms. These shelters and sanctuaries are filling up fast! You can help solve this problem by not breeding birds and by adopting a displaced bird rather than buying one from a pet store if you are ready to make a lifetime care commitment. Bird rescue, adoption, and sanctuary organizations can also use volunteers and donations to help care for their birds. Spread the word about bird overpopulation and adoption to your fellow bird lovers. Thousands of homeless parrots and other birds will thank you!
“Peach-faced Lovebird Babies” by Krista Menzel
January 6, 2025 Item 08
January 6, 2025 Item 08
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: FW: Del Mar Agenda Item 8 - BIRDS
From: Mia Kingston <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2025 4:43 PM
To: Planning Mail Box <[email protected]>; City Clerk Mail Box <[email protected]> Cc: Amanda Fox <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Del Mar Agenda Item 8 - BIRDS
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
***Please also see bottom links, info & attachments from supporting orgs, evidence. Thank you Dear Del Mar City Council & planning,
I am writing to express my strong support for Agenda Item 8, which seeks to adopt the initiative measure to amend the City’s Retail Pet Sales Ordinance. I urge the City Council to adopt the measure as an ordinance, without alteration.

Thank you for your time and support!
****Please also see...
www.avianwelfare.org
& Created by Avian Welfare Coalition -
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/716/488/144/ Petco & PetSmart: Stop Selling Birds
by: Avian Welfare Coalition
recipient: J.K. Symancyk, CEO, PetSmart; Ron Coughlin, CEO, Petco 74,459 SUPPORTERS 75,000 GOAL
Please sign: We need Petco and PetSmart to stop selling birds. Retail sale of birds promotes the suffering of millions of individuals, who are kept in conditions unsuitable to express their natural behaviors, released outdoors to die, or relinquished to overburdened and unprepared shelters.

Here are some of the common fates faced by birds purchased in retail pet stores:

Spend the bulk of their days confined to a cage incapable of accommodating flight and other natural behaviors.

January 6, 2025 Item 08
2 Released outside, where they will soon perish, when their purchasers tire of them.

Relinquished to shelters that are already overwhelmed with unwanted animals.

There are not enough homes — especially good homes — for every bird bred! Small birds are the most common victims.

Electrical damage: Monk parakeets can damage electrical lines and utility poles, which can lead to power outages.

All of this, coupled with parrots' long life spans (between 20-80 years) and the estimated 3-5 million baby birds bred in the U.S. each year, has created a true crisis of unwanted parrots with nowhere to go. Sanctuaries across the globe are at capacity, unable to address the daily requests for surrender."
https://www.rocketcitynow.com/video/news/local/video-rescues-urge-changes-after-death-of-bird-bought-from-bix-box-store/ Rescues urge changes after
death of bird bought from bigbox store
https://www.worldanimalprotection.us/latest/blogs/little-buddys-death-is-one-more-reason-that-petco-must-stop-selling-animals January 6, 2025 Item 08
3 Little Buddy’s Death Is One More Reason That
Petco Must Stop Selling Animals
BLOG
23 October 2023
By Liz Cabrera Holtz
Little Buddy, a one-year-old black-capped conure, died shortly after she was rescued from a Petco in Madison, Alabama. Prior to her death, multiple customers complained to management that she looked very sick.

A necropsy determined Little Buddy “was dehydrated and had a poor body condition score with little body fat,” with lesions indicating “that this bird had been ill for some time with chronic weight loss.”
January 6, 2025 Item 08
4 January 6, 2025 Item 08
5 From Bird Mill to Pet Store, Animals Suffer at Every Stage Just like puppy mills, birds are bred in mills where hundreds or thousands of animals are held in cramped, dirty conditions. It’s expected that some of them will die, it’s just seen as the cost of doing business. Many animals bred in mills arrive at pet stores sick or even dead.

Please consider the environment before printing this email January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 3, 2025 5:26 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.
[email protected]
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Samantha Prado <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 3, 2025 6:52 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Samantha Prado
[email protected]
San Diego, California 92114
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2025 1:38 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.
[email protected]
,
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Mia Kingston <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2025 3:20 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance (****Please also see bottom links/ supporting orgs, evidence)
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

City Clerk Sarah Krietor,
****Please also see bottom links/ supporting orgs, evidence. Thank you Dear Del Mar City Council,
I am writing to express my strong support for Agenda Item 8, which seeks to adopt the initiative measure to amend the City’s Retail Pet Sales Ordinance. I urge the City Council to adopt the measure as an ordinance, without alteration.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support!
****Please also see...

January 6, 2025 Item 08
2 www.avianwelfare.org
& Created by Avian Welfare Coalition -
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/716/488/144/ Petco & PetSmart: Stop Selling Birds
by: Avian Welfare Coalition
recipient: J.K. Symancyk, CEO, PetSmart; Ron Coughlin, CEO, Petco 74,459 SUPPORTERS 75,000 GOAL
Please sign: We need Petco and PetSmart to stop selling birds. Retail sale of birds promotes the suffering of millions of individuals, who are kept in conditions unsuitable to express their natural behaviors, released outdoors to die, or relinquished to overburdened and unprepared shelters.

Here are some of the common fates faced by birds purchased in retail pet stores:

Spend the bulk of their days confined to a cage incapable of accommodating flight and other natural behaviors.

Released outside, where they will soon perish, when their purchasers tire of them.

Relinquished to shelters that are already overwhelmed with unwanted animals.

At a time when many companies are focusing on sustainability and social responsibility, Petco and PetSmart should recognize the sale of captive birds is incongruent with those goals and will commit to ending all bird sales by 2025." January 6, 2025 Item 08
3 https://www.avianwelfare.org/action/flyers/adoptlovebird.pdf "Like dogs and cats, birds are now facing an epidemic of overpopulation and homelessness.

There are not enough homes — especially good homes — for every bird bred! Small birds are the most common victims.

The lucky ones end up in shelters to await adoption or in sanctuaries to live out their lives on their own terms. These shelters and sanctuaries are filling up fast! You can help solve this problem by not breeding birds and by adopting a displaced bird rather than buying one from a pet store if you are ready to make a lifetime care commitment. Bird rescue, adoption, and sanctuary organizations can also use volunteers and donations to help care for their birds. Spread the word about bird overpopulation and adoption to your fellow bird lovers. Thousands of homeless parrots and other birds will thank you!"
https://biodiversity.utexas.edu/news/features/pets-invasive-species-birds-feathered-friend-orfoe (for example with Quaker Parrots/ Monk Parakeets nests & damage to electrical) "Impact:

They can harm local ecosystems by competing with native birds for food and nesting space.

They can also cause economic losses and damage to property:

Electrical damage: Monk parakeets can damage electrical lines and utility poles, which can lead to power outages.

January 6, 2025 Item 08
4 Further complicating factors include standard pet industry practices, such as hand-rearing (i.e., parental deprivation), that actually undermine a parrot's ability to mature into a psychologically healthy, well-adjusted adult bird, and increases the likelihood of a bird's failure as a "pet". Even the most well-meaning, loving parrot guardians often find themselves unable to care for their longtime pets in the event of declining health, financial struggle, stress, or other life circumstances.

All of this, coupled with parrots' long life spans (between 20-80 years) and the estimated 3-5 million baby birds bred in the U.S. each year, has created a true crisis of unwanted parrots with nowhere to go. Sanctuaries across the globe are at capacity, unable to address the daily requests for surrender."
Mia Kingston
[email protected]
San Diego, California 92014
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Amanda Fox <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2025 3:41 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Amanda Fox
[email protected]
Honolulu, Hawaii 96815
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Lori Brady <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2025 5:47 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Lori Brady
[email protected]
January 6, 2025 Item 08
2 12178 Brickellia St
San Diego , California 92129
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Lisa Hurt <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 5, 2025 5:18 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Lisa Hurt
[email protected]
San Diego, California 92014
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Nedda Janatpour <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 5, 2025 10:45 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Nedda Janatpour
[email protected]
Walnut Creek, California 94598
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Christine Frei <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 12:47 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals.

Kind regards
Christine
Christine Frei
[email protected]
, 92029
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Mina Janatpour <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 6:12 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Mina Janatpour
[email protected]
Walnut Creek, California 94596
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Gregg Rotenberg <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 8:01 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Support for Agenda Item 8: Ballot Initiative on Retail Animal Sales Ordinance CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

By adopting this measure, Del Mar has the opportunity to lead with compassion and foresight.

I appreciate your consideration and the chance to advance this important step for animals and the environment.

Thank you for your time and support.

Gregg Rotenberg
[email protected]
Walnut Creek, California 94596
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1615 Duke Street, Suite 100
Alexandria, VA 22314
202.452.1525 | [email protected]
Petadvocacy.org
January 6, 2025
RE: Ordinance Prohibiting the Retail Sale of Additional Animal Classes Dear Mayor Gaasterland and Members of the Del Mar City Council, As the advocacy voice of the responsible pet care community, the Pet Advocacy Network represents the interests and expertise of retailers, companion animal suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, pet owners, and others involved in the many aspects of pet care across the United States. Our association promotes animal well-being and responsible pet ownership, fosters environmental stewardship, and ensures healthy pets' availability through our local, state, and federal work. In addition, we routinely advocate for legislative and regulatory proposals to protect the health, safety, and availability of companion animals.

On behalf of the responsible pet care community, we ask that you vote no on the proposed ordinance that would ban the sale of additional animal classes, including arachnids, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish.

Proposed bans, like this one remove consumer protection provided by the experts who work directly with potential pet parents and hobbyists, ensuring that not only the potential owner gets the appropriate pet for their experience level and current living situation, but also making sure that they are well equipped with the supplies necessary to care for their pet, from food and environment to enrichment to keep their pet happy.

These suppliers and stores are the most licensed, regulated, and inspected place where a family can seek out a pet companion. Consumers have many choices, but retail pet stores are the only ones that are licensed, regulated by the state, and regularly inspected.

Nontraditional pets like amphibians and reptiles have continued to rise in popularity and most first-time owners rely on these suppliers not only for the animal, but for advice and ongoing education to make sure that they are providing the absolute best experience possible for both their family and their pet.

Unfortunately, with the rise in popularity in these kinds of pets, we have also seen the rise in the black market for these kinds of pets. Sellers who prey on uneducated first-time owners or unscrupulous breeders and sellers who operate online and rely on the inaccessibility of physical locations and regulated stores for hobbyists and owners to go to. A ban like this would only increase the likelihood that the black-market and unregulated suppliers are able to thrive and grow.

This isn’t just a theory or a potential, we have, unfortunately seen this happen already at the statewide level.

In California, where a statewide ban on the sale of cats, dogs and rabbits has been in place for nearly six years, the unregulated, underground puppy market has now thrived. A 2024 investigation by The Los Angeles Times revealed that thousands of these puppies, often purchased online, at rest stops or from those claiming to be local “hobby breeders”, come from breeders that the well-regulated pet stores do not, and cannot work with.

January 6, 2025 Item 08
1615 Duke Street, Suite 100
Alexandria, VA 22314
202.452.1525 | [email protected]
Petadvocacy.org
Additionally, removing the ability for pet owners to access these pets from well-regulated sources, where they can interact with their potential pet and access the supplies that they need removes the ability for people to choose the pets that they want and that are the best suited for them.

During the pandemic we saw just how important pet companionship is – and that companionship can come in all forms, whether it’s a dog, cat, bird, bearded dragon or a colorful fish. We should not be taking away the ability for people to safely, and legally choose what kind of pet is the best for them, their family and their current situation.

We ask that you vote NO on this ordinance in favor or working together to find ways to meaningfully address bad actors while protecting animals, consumers, and the local small businesses without limiting pet choice in the City of Del Mar. We would be happy and honored to work with you further on this.

Thank you for your consideration,
Alyssa Miller-Hurley
Vice President of Government Affairs
January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Parrot Advocate <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 11:35 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Birds & Parrots Del Mar Agenda Item 8
Attachments: Foster Parrots statement @ instagram; IMG_6963.jpg; #JusticeForLittleBuddyImage.png; Conure enclosure poop perch2.png; Budgie broken perch.png; Store 4 Birds enclosures.png; Conure enclosure poop perch.png; 20241227_144203.jpg; May24_ 16pg_NEEWSletter_FLRc.pdf
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Dear Clerk,
To whom it may concern,
Please see & share attached
Birds & Parrots for Del Mar Agenda Item 8.

Thank you!
1 January 6, 2025 Item 08
2 January 6, 2025 Item 08
3 January 6, 2025 Item 08
4 January 6, 2025 Item 08
5 January 6, 2025 Item 08
6 January 6, 2025 Item 08
take action to stop the sale of birds & ALL animals | Visit our new activism page for more info Summer 2024 | The Official NEEWSLetter of Foster Parrots & The New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary Petco and PetSmart: Suffering and Abuse at the
Hands of Pet Retail Giants
cont'd on page 2
By Karen Windsor | Executive Director | Foster Parrots Ltd.

Photos, left to right: Foster Parrots Founder, Marc Johnson, picketing Petco, circa 2003; A discounted conure for sale: this bird has a life span of 30-40 years; The typical sad life of a captive parakeet, sold prolifically at Petco and PetSmart stores It was in 2003 when Foster Parrots’ Founder,
Marc Johnson, and I, arrived at the PetSmart
store in Braintree, MA., for our scheduled
meeting with PetSmart district and store
managers. Foster Parrots had been a thorn
in the side of these pet retail giants, picketing in front of various stores, grabbing undercover video footage of poorly kept,
unhealthy parakeets, secretly planting avian
welfare literature in various places throughout the stores for consumers to discover... We were here on this day to meet with PetSmart
management to urge them to stop selling
birds, and to propose a compromise, where
parrot rescue organizations like Foster Parrots could fill the void by showcasing rescued birds at store locations, conducting adoptions instead of sales.

Walking around the store to kill time before
the meeting, I came upon a glass display case
containing a baby white-bellied caique, sitting miserably in her starkly lit box, her little eyes closed against the world. Her face and
chest were encrusted with hand-feeding
formula. I could feel in my chest the ache of
her loneliness and isolation. This baby still
needed her mother. Instead, she had been
ripped away from that love and protection to
be shipped, unweaned, to this PetSmart retail
location to be put on display. All by herself.

I could not shake the image of this sad little caique from my mind and I carried her in my heart through the next week until we
got a call from one of our contacts at the
MSPCA Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in
Boston. A baby caique had been brought to
the hospital from the PetSmart in Braintree.

She had suffered severe crop burn from being improperly hand fed formula that was too hot. The baby had died. This heartbreak
launched Foster Parrots’ 4-year battle to
get legislation passed in Massachusetts
to ban the sale of unweaned baby birds
and prohibit the transportation of unweaned
babies across MA state lines. We were not
successful. But that’s another story…
Under extreme pressure from the avian welfare sector and from PETA, Petco discontinued the sale of “large parrots” from their retail stores in 2005, soon to be followed by
PetSmart (although the jury is still out on that
claim). At that time, Petco President and CEO,
Bruce C. Hall, spun the public announcement
as an “opportunity to work with PETA,” declaring, "We recognize that most of our bird customers are what we would call 'beginning
hobbyists'. Large birds are not necessarily
appropriate for these individuals due to their
long lifespan, size and care requirements."
Commendable on a basic level, but the gesture did not go far enough. This left a large number of small but no less intelligent and
sentient species on the table for sale in Petco and PetSmart stores as “hobby birds,” demonstrating a disturbing disregard for
the lives of the birds they would continue
to sell. After all, the life spans of small birds
like conures, Quakers and even cockatiels can
potentially range from 30 to over 40 years.

Are these not also long life spans? And are
the care requirements of small species parrots not also significant enough to require a more educated and committed consumer
demographic?
But the sins of the retailers go so much further than that, reaching all the way back into sickening cruelty and abuse suffered by millions of birds, small mammals and reptiles at “animal mills” that have supplied — and
in effect have been endorsed by — Petco,
PetSmart, Petland and other pet retailers.

Photos by Karen Windsor
7 January 6, 2025 Item 08
2 L to R: Cockatiels are sold prolifically at Petco and PetSmart stores; Conures like Peekaboo & Larry often end up in sanctuary.

Suffering & Abuse at Petco & petsmart (cont'd from cover) Dating back as far as 2009, former Petco and
PetSmart animal suppliers, U.S. Global Exotics and Rainbow World Exotics, both based in Texas and representing two of the largest
animal mills operating in the country, were
prosecuted for egregious acts of intentional animal cruelty and systemic abuse and neglect of their animals. Investigations by
PETA and federal authorities culminated in
large scale confiscations of surviving animals
from both facilities, including 27,000 exotic
animals being seized from U.S Global Exotics alone. In 2017, Holmes Farm, a massive animal mill based in Pennsylvania, was a
supplier of birds and animals to Petco and
PetSmart until investigations uncovered extreme inhumane treatment, mass deaths and excruciating suffering of thousands of
their animals. Charges were brought against
facility manager Clinton “Art” Holmes, who
pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to
animals.

More recently in 2021, Petco and PetSmart
supplier, Sun Pet, Ltd., located in Atlanta
Georgia, and warehousing more than 10,000
animals, was cited by the USDA for animal
cruelty violations that included inadequate
[i.e. non-existent] veterinary care for large
numbers of injured, dying and dead animals, unsanitary conditions, lack of water and widespread cannibalism. In response
to the charges brought against Sun Pet,
PetSmart announced, “We immediately
suspended our purchasing from Sun Pet
while we launched our own internal investigation.” Alternatively, Petco defended their relationship with this abusive supplier,
saying, “We’re aware of the citations Sun Pet
received for isolated issues that were immediately corrected. Sun Pet has since passed additional audits by both the United States
Department of Agriculture and Petco’s own
animal care team.”
“Small birds,” who comprise a dynamic, highly intelligent, profoundly social, and behaviorally complex demographic of birds bred for the pet trade, continue to be sourced
from bird and animal mills and sold at Petco
and PetSmart stores by the millions. These
birds also cumulatively represent the species
most frequently surrendered annually to
rescue organizations like Foster Parrots. We
are buckling under the weight of an unwanted bird crisis that Petco and PetSmart are creating by continuing to sell birds, and yet,
these retailers with their “Petco Love” and
“PetSmart Charities” campaigns primarily
fund cat and dog organizations while marginalizing parrot rescues and sanctuaries for funding. Between sourcing their birds
and small animals from pet mills and failing
to recognize or take responsibility for their
own complicity in creating an overwhelming
unwanted bird problem, one has to ask how
Petco’s “Love” campaigns can leave so many
animals out in the cold and “unloved.”
Retailers like Petco and PetSmart exist to
reap the profits generated by pet and pet
product sales and to fill consumer demand
for companion animals. But at every turn we
find signs in these stores advertising steep
discounts for birds they are struggling to sell.

It appears that there’s a perceptible deficit
in consumer demand for
pet birds. So why continue
to sell them? During those
meetings between Foster Parrots and Petco and
PetSmart executives 20
years ago, managers admitted that not only were live
animal sales not profitable,
they were actually a liability.

Costs related to feeding, vet
care, housing, maintaining
environments and paying
animal care staff were higher than profits generated by live animal sales. The primary incentive for live animal sales was simply to draw consumers into the
stores. In effect, millions of birds and other
live animals suffering under cruel breeding
and sales conditions are no more than props
to these retailers.

There is no such thing as a high-quality animal mill. If Petco and PetSmart really cared about animals, as they claim, they would
end their participation in an industry that
not only standardizes animal cruelty, but
regards living, sentient beings as “products.”
There are currently 1,523 PetSmart locations
in the U.S., and 1,390 Petco stores. In 2009,
Petco launched “Petco Unleashed,” a series
of Petco locations in which no live animals
are sold. As of March of 2024, there are only
39 “Petco Unleashed” stores operating in the
U.S. Petco’s brilliant idea is barely a gesture,
but could be a step in the right direction if
Petco’s CEO, board of directors and investors
could begin to consider the fact that animal
welfare could possibly be more profitable
than animal cruelty.

It seems there’s hardly an animal welfare
organization in existence today that isn’t
waging some kind of campaign against
Petco and PetSmart, urging them to stop
selling birds and other small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and arachnids. The Avian Welfare Coalition, World Animal Protection,
In Defense of Animals, PETA, and many others continue to wage a war against Petco and PetSmart. Foster Parrots enthusiastically
endorses the efforts of these organizations
and continues to take the stand we began
over 20 years ago.

See page 4 to find out how to get
involved & what you can do to help!
Photo by Brian Jones
Photo by Brian Jones
8 January 6, 2025 Item 08
3 By Amanda Coleman | Intake & Placement Director | Foster Parrots Ltd. (Cont'd on p.4)
We have all done it. We have all walked into a big box pet retail store and could not help but wander away from the supply section to the live animal department. For me, this has been to check on the quality of care the animals receive, and the experience generally leaves me angry, irritated, and ambitious to enact change. There is one department, however, that always makes my stomach turn: the bird department. And that’s exactly what it is — a bird department. A lifeless, depressing section of the store where budgies are stuffed into overcrowded glass cages with minimal perching, most already presenting lower body heaves and sleepy demeanors.

Then there are the conures, sitting alone on a single dowel perch, provided with a single, inadequate toy, paper pellets as substrate and a diet fit for any seed junkie. Most commonly on display are hybrid variations of baby Green-Cheeked Conures, you know — the fancy ones: pineapple conures, yellow-sided conures, cinnamon conures... I could go on, but you get the point. Outside of their glass dungeons, little signs are posted that give the bird's name, species, price, and a “fun” blurb about the bird. “My name is Sulu, I’m the BIGGEST drama queen you’ve ever met.” There is no doubt that these birds catch the eye of many who pass by with their playful antics, as they crave the attention of anyone who will give it to them. Advertised at affordable price points and often on sale, conures are more-often-than-not “impulse purchases” by the shopper whose kid who really wants a bird, by the shopper who takes pity on the poor baby, sitting alone in its case, or by the person who did their google research on the species and decided that purchasing a baby was a great idea.

So, what’s the big deal? Conures, like all species of parrots, are highly intelligent, social, creatures who need specialized diets, exercise, enrichment, and most importantly, a flock. In the wild, Green-Cheeked Conure flocks consist of 10-20 members who always stay in close contact. It is rare to observe a GreenCheeked Conure alone in the wild. In a retail environment, they are bred at breeding facilities and frequently shipped to the stores unweaned where they are hand-fed by store staff.

Hand-fed babies are popular due to the myth that they will be more “sociable” with their human family. After hand-feeding, the babies are placed on display in the stores without other birds or flock mates to socialize with. Some are left alone for months or even years before being purchased. This leads to serious behavioral repercussions as the birds lack the very element that is vital to them: social support. Poor Sulu mentioned earlier was not being a "drama queen," she was screaming for attention and social contact.

In 2023, Foster Parrots received 66 requests for the surrender of conure species, most originating from big box pet retailers, Petco and PetSmart. What is more alarming than the sheer number of requests are the ages of the birds needing services, and the behaviors that lead their guardians to surrender. Of the 66 surrender requests, 63% were for birds under the age of seven, with the primary reason for surrender being behavioral issues such as biting and excessive “screeching.” Many birds brought into Foster Parrots’ surrender program have arrived with feather-destructive behaviors (plucking and barbering), exposure to avian borna virus, and cardiovascular issues from being fed seed-based, nutritionally deficient diets.

Cosmo, a Green-Cheeked Conure who joined our sanctuary
last year, had been rehomed 3 times at only 4 years old, Cosmo’s guardian explained, “Cosmo came to our home after a friend could no longer handle his screaming and biting. We are his 3rd home and were hoping to be his permanent home, but he continues to pluck daily, scream non-stop, and flies into everyone's faces, biting them to the point of severe bruising and bleeding.” Cosmo has been with Foster Parrots for a year now and is thriving in a flock environment, recently pairing The Green-Cheeked Conure Crisis:

Little Victims of the Commercial Trade
Little Guy Cosmo Photo by Brian Jones Photo by Brian Jones Photo by Ash Ley, Illinois
9 January 6, 2025 Item 08
4 up with Sprinkles, one of our Green-Cheeked residents. His days of biting people in the face are mostly over. Cosmo’s story isn’t unique, and behavioral issues stemming from the birds’ commercial breeding and retail experiences are becoming more prevalent.

Since January 1, 2024, we have already received 38 requests for the surrender of conures, more than half of last year’s total number only four short months into the year.

Behavioral complaints are not the
only reasons for surrender. The
social needs of conures are immense and often are not met in a captive, human-oriented environment. At only two years of age, Mango, an overly social, friendly,
Green-Cheek Conure was surrendered due to being overly needy.

His guardian had undergone life
changes and was no longer able
to provide Mango with the social
support he required. This, too, is an effect of parrots being completely dependent on human caretakers without having the social support of an avian flock; the result is a “Velcro bird” with an impossibly high need for human social interaction.

With the flood of surrender requests Foster Parrots receives for birds in need of medical and behavioral support, we simply cannot keep up, and we are not the only parrot rescue organization experiencing these numbers and reasons for surrender. Two of our rescue partners, the Northeast Avian Rescue in NY and the Rhode Island Parrot Rescue, are also experiencing overwhelming numbers. But guardians are desperate for help. One woman explained, “I have two conures and three cockatiels. I'm just so concerned because they bite, and I don't know if you would accept them because of that. I'm just asking in general if there's any hope you’ll take them, because the Boston shelter we called said they would put them to sleep immediately. And that's too heartbreaking.” What can we do as a parrot community to help combat and reduce the number of unwanted conures? First, stop supporting pet stores that sell birds (and any other live animals), and do not purchase the sad baby conure sitting alone in the glass cage.

This only perpetuates the commercial trade, incentivizing the continued breeding and selling of birds. Instead, take photos, write to the corporations and write to your legislators. Explain the negative impacts of breeding and selling parrots. Interested in giving a parrot a loving, caring home? Adopt a bird from a reputable parrot rescue where you will receive support and guidance for the rest of your bird’s life. When possible, adopt two conures instead of one! Most birds do well together and will receive social support from each other and from you! Most importantly, boycott stores that sell animals. Reduced consumer demand can make an impact.

It is time to ask the question: If it is not ethical to purchase a dog or cat from a pet store, why is it ethical to purchase a parrot? It is not.

Get Involved: Be a Voice For Birds!
Write a personal letter to Petco and PetSmart’s
CEOs and demand an end to bird sales! Not good
at drafting letters? Foster Parrots has you covered!
Visit Foster Parrots’ website for templates, downloadable letters you can sign and send, and for other materials and information:
https://www.fosterparrots.com/activism
Petco Headquarters
Welcome Petco’s new interim CEO, R. Michael Mohan with
a letter, asking him to bring your concerns about the sale of birds to Petco’s Board of Directors:

Attn: R. Michael (Mike)Mohan
Petco National Support Center
10850 Via Frontera
San Diego, CA. 92127
Petco Customer Service: (877) 738-6742 or (888) 824-7257 Email: [email protected]
PetSmart
J.K. Symancyk
PetSmart CEO
PetSmart Corporate Offices
19601 N 27th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85027
Email: [email protected]
PetSmart Customer Service: 888-839-9638
Contact PetSmart via the web: https://www.petsmart.
com/account/contact/#page_name=global&link_section=-
footer&link_name=contact_us or scan the code above
Mango
What You Can Do to Help
Scan this
code for
PetSmart's
"Contact
Us" page
Green-Cheeked conure crisis (cont'd
from p. 3)
Photo by Amanda Coleman
Photo by Karen Windsor
10 January 6, 2025 Item 08
5 Exactly what provisions Tootsie’s guardian had made for her care via estate planning is unclear. Following the death of the guardian, the executor of the estate contacted Foster Parrots to inform us that Tootsie, a 25-year-old, female umbrella cockatoo, had been left alone in the home. She was being fed daily, but beyond that, she was without any form of companionship. We knew we had to get this lonely bird out of that empty house, but with a currently full quarantine and nowhere in our facility to suddenly accommodate an umbrella cockatoo, our hands were tied. No prior provisions had been made for Tootsie with Foster Parrots – or apparently with anyone. Representatives of the estate assured us that any costs related to the rescue of Tootsie would be paid immediately by the estate, and they would be amendable to a temporary boarding situation if one could be found. This would be an immediate pathway to helping Tootsie, so Foster Parrots referred the family to a reputable, local parrot boarding business where Tootsie could receive care until Foster Parrots could provide services.

This is where things became complicated. Tootsie had been in the boarding facility for only 3 weeks when the estate representatives began to pull back, failing to respond to communication from the boarding establishment as well as from Foster Parrots. Although the boarding proprietor had secured an initial payment for services rendered, some level of hostility had become apparent, and with at least 2 more weeks of boarding fees owed, the estate attorneys declared that no more money from the estate would be authorized for Tootsie’s care, and suggested that Tootsie be dropped off at the MSPCA. They were washing their hands of Tootsie. After all, who really cared? It was just a bird.

Our non-human family members have no way of processing the death of a guardian or the chaos that ensues in the aftermath when they are suddenly removed from their familiar home environment. When it's a parrot who finds him or herself in a standard shelter situation, they fare far worse than other suddenly homeless species. Surrounded by strangers, flurries of activity and the cacophony of yelps and cries of so many other confused and fearful animals, they may not understand what has happened, but they can surely feel what they have lost. Humane shelters that don’t normally specialize in birds can be ill-equipped to deal with parrots, and because parrots are prey animals whose fear and confusion will typically be demonstrated through extreme defensiveness or aggression, their behavior and needs can be misinterpreted by shelter staff. Parrots with behavioral challenges can be candidates for euthanasia in standard shelters when adoption prospects are questionable.

Estate planning for the care of cherished avian family members is more than a casual act. Pre-planning and pre-death arrangements are essential for the protection of one’s parrot. The benevolence or compassion of surviving family members cannot be guaranteed.

Wills can be contested, and in situations where legal proceedings can drag on for many months or even years, animals can pay a high price for the shortsightedness of the guardians who once loved them, and the callousness of estate professionals or family members who simply don’t care.

Tootsie is an umbrella cockatoo, and she comes with all the behavioral complications typical of her species in captivity. And then some. She can scream almost non-stop for hours. She can crave and demand attention, but then suddenly pivot, rewarding that attention with an unpredictable and devastating bite. We can’t know what Tootsie’s life was like with her former family or how her behaviors had been managed, but we do not consider her to be eligible for adoption. In any other, less specialized shelter situation, this could have devastating consequences. Tootsie will remain in residence at the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary where staff and volunteers will provide the support, understanding, and behavior modification training she’ll need as she transitions into her new, permanent home with Foster Parrots.

For information on estate planning essentials, see page 8.

Tootsie’s Story:

Umbrella Cockatoos &
Perspectives on Estate Planning
Tootsie sat atop her cage at the sanctuary, watching
the comings and goings of staff and volunteers. She was on the small size for her species. Her chest feathers were moderately plucked. She raised her crest and looked
at each passing person with a mixture of trepidation
and expectation. She felt a little lost, but she had been adrift in a world of unfamiliar people, places and events since her woman passed away three months earlier.

She was getting used to not knowing what the next
T day might bring. ootsie Photo by Brian Jones
11 January 6, 2025 Item 08
6 On March 30th of this year, Foster Parrots Founder, Marc Johnson, was contacted by the Worcester County State Police Detective Unit about 2 Amazon parrots who had been left in a home following the death of their female guardian. Preparing to drive out to rescue the birds, Marc was put in touch with Leominster Animal Control, who stepped in to pull the birds out of the home. The situation was dire for these two Amazons, as the circumstances surrounding the birds was described as “hostile,” with the brother of the deceased woman “not caring if the birds lived or died.” It was clear the two Amazons had been very poorly cared for for some time. The feather condition was very poor, and the birds’ nails were severely overgrown, impeding their mobility. The birds had been housed separately in cages that were in such deplorable condition, the animal control officer would not take the cages.

Upon their arrival at the sanctuary, Marc removed the birds from their carrier to find that the Mealy Amazon was a love-starved little cuddler, instantly snuggling with Marc and craving attention. The Blue-Fronted Amazon was nervous and fearful. Their overgrown and twisted toenails were quickly clipped back, enabling them to perch and move more easily. They were named Athena (Mealy Amazon) and Aphrodite (Blue-Fronted Amazon) by Foster Parrots volunteer, Hailey Coleman.

There is no way to know how old these two precious souls are, how many homes they have passed through or what their lives were like with their previous female guardian. Both birds have hyperkeratosis in their feet and mineral deposits in their eyes, reflecting advanced age. Unsurprisingly, labs revealed liver and heart issues that will require long-term support. Athena has love to give, so we can presume that there was love and happiness at some time in her past. Aphrodite may also have known some level of quality care in her life, but many parrots are fearful of strangers and shut down in stressful situations. Aphrodite may just need some time.

Foster Parrots will work on improving their diets and their health.

They will be put up for adoption as a pair. We will be seeking a quiet, stable home capable of meeting Athena’s enthusiastic desire for human social connection, while embracing Aphrodite’s boundaries and her need for patience and a slower, more supportive approach.

EXTREME RESCUE PROFILE: ATHENA AND APHRODITE By Karen Windsor | Executive Director | Foster Parrots Ltd.

L to R: Athena (Mealy Amazon) and Aphrodite (Blue-fronted Amazon); Severely overgrown nails on both birds; Athena immediately snuggled up to Marc Johnson, having clearly been starved for affection since their guardian passed with no estate planning in place.

Athena Aphrodite
Photos by Marc Johnson
12 January 6, 2025 Item 08
7 parrot placement center spotlight By Amanda Coleman | Intake & Placement Director | Foster Parrots Ltd.

This year, as of late April 2024, Foster Parrots has already received 477 requests for surrender,representing half of last year's total of 769 requests within only 4 months. At the same time, we are experiencing a stark decline in the number of applicants and birds being placed into loving homes. We need your help! We currently have 21 incredible birds available for placement. Interested in offering a bird or two a safe place to land? We implore you to fill out the placement application found on our website at: https://www.fosterparrots.com/placement Toto and Greta are a friendly, animated,
bonded pair of blue & gold macaws
who have been part of Foster Parrots’
Placement Program for far too long!
They have been eagerly waiting for a
home to call their own since September
of 2023. Greta, a 6-year-old known female,
is a spunky, outgoing lady who loves to
give her caretakers all the sass! She will
often fly to her chosen person’s shoulder
for attention. At the age of 20, Toto is
outgoing and enjoys being more handson with his preferred caretakers. In their previous homes, they both preferred a
female guardian. These wonderful birds
have lived cage-free for most of their lives!
Anyone interested in giving this dynamic
pair a home must offer cage-free living.

Potential guardians must own their own
homes and have large bird experience.

Bella and Lola are a bonded pair of African Greys new to our Home Sanctuary Program. This dynamic, sweet pair was
transferred to us from our partners at the
RI Parrot Rescue earlier this month after
nearly a 3 year stay at their facility. Due to
a primarily all-seed diet in their previous
home, Bella and Lola struggle with cardiovascular disease. Bella has been placed on a life-long heart medication and Lola receives a holistic cardiac supplement. With medication intervention, a healthy diet
of high-quality pellets and fresh foods,
these two sweet girls have made strides
in their recovery. They are both target
and syringe-trained, making medication
administration a breeze! Their placement
fee has been waived due to their need for
life-long medication. Their ideal placement
should be with someone comfortable administering their meds, who will be patient, and who can offer them lots of cage-free
time, and socialization.

Chickee and Hatcher are a strongly
bonded pair of Amazons who share an
enclosure and must never be separated.

Once they become comfortable with
their caregivers, they are easily handled.

Hatcher is the more outgoing of the
two; Chickee can be more reserved
while gaining comfort and confidence
in a new environment. Both birds are
microchipped and DNA sexing has been
completed on Hatcher who is a known
female. Bonded pairs are, in many ways,
easier to accommodate in a home setting,
especially for guardians who work fulltime and may not be able to provide socialization throughout the day! This
pair would do well in a quieter household
or in a constructed bird room with other
Amazons.

Toto & Greta Bella & Lola Blue & Gold Macaws | Ages: 20 (Toto) and 7 (Greta, known female) African Greys: Congo Grey (Bella) & Timneh Grey (Lola | Ages: 22+
Meet our "home sanctuary" candidates Chikee & Hatcher
Amazons: Orange-winged (chickee) &
white-fronted (hatcher) | Ages: seniors
Chikee
Hatcher
Toto
Greta
Bella
Lola
Photo by Stacy Sanborn
Photo by Stacy Sanborn
Photo by Brian Jones
Photo by Brian Jones
Photo by Brian Jones
Photo by Brian Jones
To learn more about our Home Sanctuary Program and to submit an application check out program details on our website: https://www.fosterparrots.com/home-sanctuary 13 January 6, 2025 Item 08
8 Research sanctuaries and rescue organizations in advance to ensure you choose one that is stable and capable of delivering the quality of care and services required by your parrot(s).

Inform your chosen sanctuary in advance and work with
them to ensure they are aware of your estate planning wishes.

Estate planning paperwork and information about your bird(s) should be filed with the sanctuary prior to your death.

Establish a legal trust or will that clearly defines provisions for the care of your parrot(s). It is advisable to consult with an estate planning attorney or financial advisor to determine if a trust or will is the best choice. A trust is normally the fastest route to the settlement of an estate, as it sidesteps probate and cannot be contested or changed following one’s death. If a will is established, it is essential that one chooses a trustworthy executor who is compassionate and sensitive to the needs of one’s companion animals.

Planning to leave your parrot(s) to family members or friends? It may be time for a new plan. If family members or close friends are trustworthy and have a wellestablished bond with your parrot(s), this would clearly be the best and least stressful option for your parrot following your death. However, keep in mind that rescue organizations like Foster Parrots are regularly contacted by family members or friends who have “inherited” a bird they eventually decide they can no longer care for.

Estate Planning Essentials
Heartbreaking stories of birds who are completely abandoned after their guardian passes or birds who are left in the care of unprepared or unwilling family members are all too common — (see the story of Athena and Aphrodite on page 6 and Tootsie's story on page 5.) Don't let this happen to the birds in your care — with thoughtful advance planning, your birds can continue to live on and receive the care they deserve long after you are gone.

Tootsie
Leaf &Twig

1. research

2. inform

3. make a will or
establish a trust

4. Think again!
Photo by Brian Jones
Photo by Brian Jones
14 January 6, 2025 Item 08
9 Mila and Monster’s plans to raise another
family this spring were complicated by an
unwelcome interloper! A barn owl, intent
on raising her own family of little owlets, had
moved into the nest box. To address the problem,
MCCR founder, Chris Castles, implemented a super
advanced technological strategy: cardboard.

Evicting this owl from prime nesting real estate would only be effective if she could be prevented from returning. After vacating her, a large sheet of cardboard was cut and fixed to the front of the box, completely blocking the entrance.

Owls lack the proper equipment to excavate a nest or chew through cardboard — but parrots are master excavators!
Their strong beaks were designed to chew. When Mila and Monster were ready to start their new family, they chewed through the cardboard and reclaimed their nest box.

Although both Monster and Mila were found as hatchlings and hand raised by the team at MCCR, the soft release
techniques employed by MCCR prepare birds for lives in the wild, and Monster and Mila are as wild as two macaws can be.

They are aggressive defenders of their nest site, driving away challengers like owls and other macaws, and when there are eggs — or chicks — present in the nest, no one is safe.

Monster and Mila are now in their third successful nesting season. Two chicks can be heard in the nest box, and one of the two just made his debut, peaking tentatively out of the nest hole with its artfully chewed, cardboard frame.

Macaw Conservation Costa Rica:

Another Nesting Season at MCCR
By Karen Windsor | Executive Director | Foster Parrots Ltd.

Photo by Chris Castles | MCCR
Photo by Chris Castles | MCCR
Photo by Sharon Malley
Above, left: A barn owl harasses Scarlet Macaw parents Mila & Monster for possession of their nesting cavity; Top right: Protective parents Mila & Monster guard their nest site; Bottom, right: Mila (top) and her baby (below) peer out from their nest. 15 January 6, 2025 Item 08
10 Photos by One Earth Conservation
In mid-March of this year, 240 parrot eggs were confiscated from poachers in Panama. These
eggs came from Nicaragua,
where the parrots and eggs from One Earth Conservation’s project area in Honduras are often taken after they are stolen from their nests. This is the fourth time in a year that couriers from Taiwan have been detained in airports from the USA to Paraguay. How many more eggs make it through undetected?
Heartbreakingly, the first of the nests from our project in Honduras were also poached this same week. There is a criminal ring of Taiwanese traffickers whose couriers keep getting captured with eggs, but they do not desist. I imagine their organization must be large and organized and I often feel despair about what can be done to stop them.

On my way back from La Moskita, Honduras, later in March, I visited my good friend who is a professor of English at a university in Tegucigalpa. She invited me to visit her English class where I could not only help the students practice their English, but I could also tell them about the dangers facing their parrots in Honduras. I told the students that it had been legal until 1990 to trap and export parrots from Honduras, where over ten thousand birds were removed every year for the wildlife trade. Despite it being now illegal to do this, the parrots of Honduras continue to be trapped and exported anyway, resulting in much harm and loss of life – not just to the parrots but to the people and ecosystems over which the birds fly. We talked about the 240 parrot eggs that had been confiscated in Panama.

The students then began to tell me stories of the parrots in their lives and how they did not know that such harm was happening to their country's birds. This includes the most trafficked and sought after species, the scarlet macaw, which is the National Bird of Honduras.

One student, Yeny, told us how her grandmother, with whom she grew up, trafficked in wild animals throughout Yeny's childhood.

She then went on to share....
"In my innocence I always believed that it was a form of work and it was not bad. I never thought that it was a crime, but I didn't like seeing animals behind a cage anyway. I am currently 40 years old and I do not like having birds as pets. I think it was all due to what I experienced as a child. I always felt that birds were born to fly and be free. I do not share the idea of having a bird caged or deprived of freedom. God made nature with the intention that we would be good stewards and not dedicate ourselves to destroying it."
Now back home in the USA and receiving daily news of our project's nests in Honduras being poached, I offer a prayer of gratitude to Yeny and the citizens of her country. There are many who dedicate themselves to preserving and cherishing the wild parrots of their homelands. I especially appreciate our teams in Honduras who work 24/7 camping and patrolling to protect what is theirs, so it won’t become someone else’s in a faraway place.

My wild dream is that our global cultures no longer accept the domination of any being under the guise of care. The world and its beings, including humans, have seen enough of this lack of freedom. I truly believe there are much better ways to organize human societies, though I alone cannot discern the how and why for any other peoples or places. It will take a group of us to form something stronger, bonded in awe and love of this life and earth.

Losing Parrots in the Wild, One Egg at a Time:
240 Eggs Confiscated from Poachers in Panama
By LoraKim Joyner, Co-Director, One Earth Conservation | Adapted from OEC Blog Posts 3/21 - 4/12/2024 240 macaw eggs confiscated
Taiwanese Citizens Arrested at Tocumen Airport
16 January 6, 2025 Item 08
11 Projects YOU Can Support
Photo by One Earth Conservation
Photo by One Earth Conservation
Photo by One Earth Conservation
Sun Parakeet Project in Guyana
Annual cost: $22,000
Population counts of sun parakeets are revealing fewer than 500 individual wild birds remaining in Guyana. Meanwhile, we know very little about their nesting, eating, and migrating behaviors. To date, up to 60 sun parakeet cavities in Guyana have been studied by One Earth Conservation and our partners, the Parakeet Rangers in Karasabai Village.

They are now conducting monthly parrot counts at two locations and quarterly counts at two other locations. Learning more about this species’ behavior in the wild and engaging locals in tracking , studying, and protecting them can help save them from extinction in the wild. Expenses include modest stipends for the parakeet rangers, supplies and equipment needed for conservation activities, and educational materials for village schools that help to raise awareness, engage wider participation in protection efforts, and inspire future generations of conservationists.

Saving Embattled Macaws in Honduras
Annual Project Cost: $50,000
Our Apu Pauni (scarlet macaw) Project in Honduras has grown to be the largest wild parrot conservation area in the world protected by community patrols. With local partners, we have reduced scarlet macaw poaching there from 100% to 12% in 2023 by patrolling 500,000 acres of Indigenous territory, despite decreased funding. Also, our Great Green Macaw Project is protecting the current population of great green macaws while working to increase the population and serving as a reservoir for a broader area. OEC and our partners are patrolling nesting areas, supporting enforcement activities leading to confiscations of poached macaws, installing artificial nest boxes and conducting rescue and liberation activities. Local communities gather every quarter as a Conservation Committee to learn, discuss, and decide on actions for conservation. Expenses include parrot rangers’ stipends, supplies and equipment for conservation and rescue and rehabilitation activities, local transportation, and educational materials.

Stopping Suriname’s Parrot Trade
Annual Project Cost: $10,000
In Suriname, 67% of 27 native parrot species have declining populations. Even so, Suriname is one of two countries in South America where it’s legal to trap, hunt, and export parrots. Suriname is one of the poorest countries in South America, so supporting sustainable livelihoods based in conservation can be effective deterrents to the wildlife trafficking. With local partners, One Earth Conservation is monitoring and protecting many of the vulnerable species in Suriname, with a focus on those most at risk from harmful human activities, such as trapping and hunting. The project’s goals are to improve parrot and human welfare and protect forest biodiversity. The objectives are to improve livelihoods through tourism and increase conservation capacity in the indigenous village of Kalebaskreek, so the people can refrain from trapping and instead protect nest sites.

Project activities include training Indigenous people in conservation and ecotourism, developing conservation strategies, gathering data, and educating communities about endangered native parrots.

By Gail Koelln | Co- Founder
One Earth Conservation
Scan to learn
more about
One Earth
Conservation's
work
17 January 6, 2025 Item 08
12 Foster Parrots’ new Corvid & Yard Bird House finally welcomed our resident crows, Hope, Tally and Sid, in April, and these birds are loving their space! Furnishing for disabled or non-flighted crows took some thought, requiring ramps, ladders and platforms in addition to natural branches for perching. Soft mulch substrate was laid down to offer a cushioned landing in case crows take a tumble, and sheltered roosting areas will keep the crows secure at night. Additional furnishings and enrichments are in the works, including blinds for extra security and privacy, sand boxes and trinket boxes for playing, foraging and engaging sharp corvid minds.

We next turned our attention to the “Raven Residence,” and although furnishing and enrichments are still under construction, we were able to introduce Roxy, to her new space in early May! This large, new aviary offers her more than twice the space of her previous aviary, enabling her to exercise her flight and navigation skills. Although she is flighted, Roxy’s orientation to humans renders her unreleasable. She is loving her new aviary! But she won’t be alone for long. Permits are currently pending with U.S. Fish & Wildlife for the addition of a young, flightless raven who will soon become an active new participant in our “Avian Intelligence” education program!
The Corvid & Yard Bird House at the NEEWS was designed to offer “sheltered outdoor living” and a level of protection against avian influenza. Overhead roofing provides a barrier against “droppings from above,” half inch stainless steel wire prevents wild birds from entering, and buried ground wire secures the structure against predators.

Foster Parrots’ New Corvid & Yard Bird House:

The Crows & Raven Have Landed!
Crow Sid
Raven Roxy
Crow Tally
Raven Roxy
Karen
Windsor
Photo by Emma Dallas
Photo by Kelly Duker
Photo by Brian Jones
Photo by Brian Jones
4 Photos by Amanda Coleman
Photo by Kelly Duker
Photo by Kelly Duker
Sid
Roxy
18 January 6, 2025 Item 08
13 About a year ago I came to Foster Parrots as broken emotionally and physically as I imagine many sanctuary residents may have been when they arrived, just not as pretty. I had experienced a mental breakdown after losing my job, destroying my shoulder, and confronting a deeply painful childhood trauma. I could no longer do the things I loved before tearing “my wing:” fly fishing, canoeing, and playing catch with my three boys. I had become depressed and prone to panic attacks, unable to drive places and not much help to my wife and kids. I finally realized how damaged I was when, one day, I found myself crying uncontrollably upon discovering a small spider eating a still-struggling cricket in our basement. Life seemed so cruel and unforgiving.

An outpatient program at Butler Hospital pointed the way back for me with the suggestion that I get out of my own head and back into life by volunteering. As fate would have it, a friend suggested Foster Parrots. I am a lifelong birder and had seen parrots and macaws in Costa Rica, so I figured it could be a good fit. How intimidating could parrots be to my newly fragile self? I began volunteering at the sanctuary as a “toymaker” under the tutelage of Foster Parrots’ Enrichment Specialist, Briana Robertson.

This put me just outside the door from the flight cage belonging to Moluccan Cockatoo, Henry. I saw myself in him, his frenzied neediness, and his prowling search for attention. Seeing a bird walk the hall is such a silly sight, ding-toed with wings held tight against the body, the tail scouring the floor. Henry’s sneak-attack ankle nibbling just made him more unique and lovable to me. I saw his feather plucking as similar to my own destructive self-absorption. But his constant squawking and wanderings were more indicative of his extroverted character, and I wanted to adopt some of that energy.

Henry and I started slow, with me approaching him, clacking my dentures in imitation of his beak clacking. I wanted to show him I could communicate on his level. I took his fevered yelling when I walked away as a sign that he was already missing me (I told you my ego was fragile). Over the course of the next few weeks, we got bolder with each other. Summoning my courage, I finally bent over and touched his head one day, and Henry did not bite! Eventually I followed the lead of staff I had observed: I got on my knees and let him put his head between my legs so I could give him a proper scratching. The location of my most personal piece of anatomy and his wrench-like choppers was a good test of how trusting I was becoming.

Now a regular volunteer at the sanctuary, I
love making things for the birds to rip
apart, shred and lacerate. I know it
helps their emotional lives to have
something to occupy their days. It is
a lesson I now know is true for me,
too. Finding meaning in life is vital for
our stability, and the birds at Foster
Parrots have given me more than I can
ever give them.

The Therapy of Parrots Studies are clear: Animals have a positive impact on human mental health. Here's a
story of how birds can help people
By Jon Gibbs | Foster Parrots Volunteer
Jon & Macho
Henry
Henry
Henry and Me
Photo by Brian Jones
Photo by Dorian DeSimone
Photo by Brian Jones
Henry
19 January 6, 2025 Item 08
14 Selected References / Further Reading: Heinsohn, R. (2008). Ecology and evolution of the enigmatic eclectus parrot (Eclectus roratus). Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, 22(2):146-150 https://doi.org/10.1647/2007-031.1 | Horton, S. Your overly reproductive female bird. http://www.exoticpetvet.com/your-overly-reproductive-female-bird.html | Toft, C. A., & Wright, T. F. (2015). Parrots of the wild: A natural history of the world’s most captivating birds. University of California Press.

Species Profile: The Problem with
Your Eclectus!
It's an eclectus thing: Ozzie can't help but
try to feed multiple "mates," even if they
aren't his species (or his size!)
by Jennifer Yordy | NEEWS Sanctuary Director
Ava
Photo by Brian Jones
Ozzie
Daisy Mae
Ozzie
Photo by Brian Jones
Photo by Brian Jones
Anyone
who has visited or volun- teered at
Foster Parrots in the last five
years has almost certainly met
Ozzie the male eclectus parrot, our unofficial greeter for the “Central Park” section of the sanctuary. Vivid green, with a charming
and gregarious personality to match, Ozzie
lands on the shoulder of nearly every person that enters Central Park. “Don’t worry,” I tell people when they first meet Ozzie. “The
worst thing Ozzie will do to you is that, if you
spend more than about five minutes with
him, he’ll decide you’re his new girlfriend
and start trying to feed you.”
Surely, this must be the perfect bird with
which to share a home, right? The truth
is there’s no such thing. Ozzie’s extreme
sociality stems from his species’ unusual
“multi-male, multi-female” social structure,
a system called polygynandry. This social
structure, along with other aspects of the
eclectus parrot’s natural history, goes hand
in hand with traits that create unique challenges for life in captivity. Eclectus parrots, like all parrots, are wild animals not meant
to be pets.

Most parrots, and indeed most birds, are
more-or-less monogamous. Even if they do
not actually “mate for life,” they generally
have a single social and reproductive partner for the duration of one or more breeding seasons. In the eclectus parrot, on the other hand, both males and females mate
with multiple partners in the span of each
breeding season. This unusual social system
is driven by the extreme scarcity of suitable
nesting spots; it’s hard to find a safe, dry tree
hollow in the rainforests of Oceania. Conspicuously red colored females compete bitterly over these nesting spots, even going
so far as fighting to the death and killing any
chicks present in a conquered nest hollow.

As a result, females are extremely possessive
of their nest hollows, almost never leaving
the nest. Males, with their relatively camouflaged green plumage, forage throughout the forest and bring food to multiple females
and offspring in the nests. Several males will
help to provision each female, and although
there are more adult males than females in
wild populations, most males also hedge
their genetic bets by provisioning and mating with more than one female.

Probably because of the pressure for females to remain present to defend their nests, eclectus parrots have an extended
breeding season, lasting most of the year.

As a result, they experience more frequent
reproductive hormonal cycles than most
other parrots, and this is a leading cause of
problems with keeping eclectus parrots in
captivity. In males, these problems mostly
come in the form of behavioral challenges
like aggression and unwanted sexual behavior. In females, these behavioral problems also include a near constant drive to find—
or create—a nesting space, which may result in significant property damage and a general disinterest in socializing with family members. More seriously for the parrots themselves, frequent hormonal cycles bring
significant health risks. Frequent egg-laying
can lead to calcium deficiencies, thin-shelled
eggs, and an elevated risk of egg-binding,
from which serious and even fatal complications can occur. The risk of egg-binding is further elevated by obesity and insufficient
exercise, which are common problems for
all captive parrots. Hormonal therapies are
available and may be administered by veterinarians to help manage these problems by preventing reproductive cycles, but
unfortunately these interventions are not
as effective or long-lasting in birds as they
are in mammals. A hormonal implant might
prevent reproduction in a dog for as long
as 3 years; at Foster Parrots, Ava the female
eclectus needs a new implant roughly every 3 months. Like many of her species in captivity, Ava has a history of reproductive
disease, and further repeated egg-laying
is very risky for her. So, every few months
she must undergo the procedure of having
an implant injected under the skin of her
back. Eventually, she will need to have surgery to remove all the old implants. But she’s lucky to be free of the hazards of constant
egg-laying. For many, medical implants are
an unaffordable option.

So while Ava is a “lucky” captive eclectus parrot, this isn’t the life she was meant for. She shouldn’t be fighting reproductive disease,
but repelling competitors from her nest, and
raising one or two precious chicks each year.

And while Ozzie may enjoy his position as
the “Mayor of Central Park,” and the people
of Foster Parrots may enjoy his lively sociality,
that role is a pale reflection of what his life
should be. That exuberant energy should
be spent flying from tree to tree, bringing
food to a series of mothers guarding the
next generation of wild eclectus parrots.
20 January 6, 2025 Item 08
15 MARCH
EVER!
MATCH
FOSTER

PARROTS
It was the
biggest
236K! March Matching Fund Drive Results:$
We ALL thank you for
your love and generosity!

SANCTUARY TOURS ARE SUSPENDED

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, THANK YOU FOR
YOUR PATIENCE WHILE WE REBUILD!
It’s been a long 3 years of planning, designing, dealing with regulations, and working with construction professionals and state and local officials. Many people cannot imagine the complexities involved in a major development project of this scale. But demolition is about to commence and construction finally begins this summer. We are standing on the precipice of the Rise of a Phoenix: a living memorial to what we all lost in 2021, and a promise for the future of avian welfare.

Five million dollars have been raised toward the reconstruction of the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary.

We still must raise an additional three million dollars to complete the project. Fundraising continues in
earnest, but we need to close the gap! Please contact
Executive Director, Karen Windsor at Karen@fosterparrots.com to discuss investment incentives and major gift pledges. With your help, we can close the gap!
Wow! We put out the call, and you all sent your love! Donations in March, together with our $60,000 Matching Pool, provided nearly $236,000 in support for our March Matching Fund Drive this year. Your record-breaking demonstration of love, solidarity and faith on this unprecedented level happened only
because you all believe that parrots are
important enough.

The summer months are “funding black
holes” for nonprofit organizations everywhere. Donations drop off dramatically during the summer. Your support in March
not only helps to pull us through the year,
but also helps us in our continuing capital
campaign fundraising efforts. Words can
never express the depth of our gratitude.

Thank you!
Photos by Brian Jones
Photo by Brian Jones
Construction to begin this summer!
Demolition and construction chaos will inevitably be stressful on staff, volunteers and, of course, the birds themselves. Foster Parrots’ doors will be closed to sanctuary tours beginning in May. We look forward to welcoming our cherished supporters, friends, and Foster Parrots Family members back in the fall of 2025. Thank you so much for your love and understanding.

Buddy
Artist's rendering of the soon-to-be
constructed Foster Parrots and the
New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary
21 January 6, 2025 Item 08
NON-PROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT #421

PROVIDENCE, RI
Yes! I want to support the work of Foster Parrots, Ltd. with a tax-deductible donation of:
q $
25 q $50 q $75 q $100 q $200 q $300 q $500 q $1000 q Other $__________________ Your contribution to Foster Parrots, Ltd. helps provide care for over 300 parrots and animals at The New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary. It supports our humane education and adoption programs, and it helps to protect the freedom of wild parrots and natural habitat. Help us rebuild our sanctuary and provide homes for animals in need. Thank you for your support! Photos by Brian Jones
Or, mail a check payable to Foster Parrots Ltd.

PO Box 34 | Hope Valley,RI | 02832
www.fosterparrots.com
Scan the QR code to easily donate online or go to
NEEWSletter design courtesy of Dorian DeSimone Designs | Unless otherwise specified, photography courtesy of Brian Jones Design Name: _______________________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________________ City: ______________________________________ State: _________ Zip: ________________ E-mail address: ________________________________________________________________ Prefer to receive your NEEWSLETTER electronically?
Email [email protected]
Foster Parrots &
The New England
Exotic Wildlife
Sanctuary
P.O. Box 34
Hope Valley, RI
02832
Read about
me and the
importance
of estate
planning on
pages 5 & 8
Check out my awesome
new home on page 12
I want to help close the gap towards the cost of
the new sanctuary! Construction is starting this YES! summer. Can you help? Tootsie
Sid
22 January 6, 2025 Item 08
23 January 6, 2025 Item 08
24 January 6, 2025 Item 08
25 January 6, 2025 Item 08
1 Melinda Gould
From: Kerridge, Carol <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2025 7:55 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Red dot Item 9
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Dear City Council Members, City Manager and Staff,
It's with growing concern that I am writing to explain my frustration with SANDAG's lack of communication and discussion with the residents of Del Mar regarding the LOSSAN plan to move the train tracks off of our dangerously eroding bluff.

Thank you much for the work you are all doing to support and protect the vitality of our town.

We all recognize the fact that the train needs to be removed from the bluffs for the safety of passengers, cargo, and essential military equipment. We know that there are options being seriously considered to choose a route that includes a tunnel under some parts of our hillside, but to our knowledge no one is studying the increasing fragility of our hillside. We wonder how our hillside would withstand 100 train trips in 24hrs including multi ton freight? Many residents are noticing erosion changes on our properties, sink holes and increasing flooding in our yards, an increase of flooding in streets during storms, and we are well aware of at least 3 mudslides that have occurred in our town. We are not alone; these serious challenges are a problem that many CA coastal towns are trying hard to resolve.

At the same time however, we are being warned by climate scientists, geologists and meteorologists that in our region, we can expect unpredictable atmospheric river storms, SLR, stronger more frequent Santa Ana's, and that there is a strong chance the fault just offshore from Del Mar might become active.

Please help us create real conversations with SANDAG, the anxiety level of the residents in our town is growing.

I'm grateful for the time and energy you all put into helping to make our town such a special community.

January 6, 2025 Item 09
2 Carol Kerridge
January 6, 2025 Item 09
1 Melinda Gould
From: Camilla Rang <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 5, 2025 12:38 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: City Council meeting 01.06.2024, item 9
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Dear City Council,
I would like to support below red dot from Shirli Weiss, brilliant and spot on as usual. It is of utmost importance that Route A stay on the NOP. We cannot allow SANDAG to blow a hole right through the heart of Del Mar just to save a couple of minutes travel time. We need a route that circumvent our town, one way or another.

Best,
Camilla Rang
January 4, 2025
Dear Honorable Mayor Gaasterland and Distinguished Members of the City Council:

I am a long-time resident of Del Mar and have practiced law in California for over 40 years.

I have closely followed developments surrounding the LOSSAN track realignment project in Del Mar.

Thank you to the City Staff for providing the Value Analysis (“VA”) Update in packet for the January 6, 2024 meeting of the City Council, and thank you to the Mayor and City Manager for sending the December 19, 2024 City Letter to SANDAG’s CEO, Mario Orso, providing feedback on the Draft Value Analysis Study Process. As I understand it, the City has provided feedback on the VA process but not the report because the report has not yet been published to the City.

First, I support all four recommendations in the December 19, 2024 letter to SANDAG regarding the process and find them to be all highly appropriate. I also thank the Staff for its intense efforts to have Del Mar’s voice heard from an engineering standpoint.

The City’s letter wisely anticipates the possibility that the VA analysis will formulate some rationale to eliminate NOP Route A from the proposed study routes. The letter is conditionally objecting to that eventuality and calling on SANDAG to make the report available for public and participating members review and comment before it goes to the SANDAG board to consider any further alternative rail alignments.

Among the matters I hope might be addressed at the City Council on Monday evening are the following:

January 6, 2025 Item 09
2 1. I think residents would appreciate hearing from the City’s engineers as to what suggestions they made to SANDAG, and what in their opinion is the least destructive possible routes circumventing the city that should continue to be studied, including north/ south lagoon routes instead of the current east/west lagoon routes.

2. The Joint Resolution entered into by the participants in the VA Process asked SANDAG to join with the affected cities and the fairgrounds in formulating mutually agreed upon project objectives. Did that happen? If so, have amended project objectives been published?

3. Has Del Mar been designated a “responsible agency?” If not, why not? As I understand it, permits will need to be secured from Del Mar under its Local Coastal Program for any construction. Can Del Mar withhold permits under its LCP? Simply stated, I believe Del Mar residents demand a realignment route that is I-5 focused and that circumvents, or largely circumvents, the city rather than tunnel through it. We have not yet seen SANDAG sufficiently explore such routes. I am not so naïve as to think that this goal will be easily achieved. To date, SANDAG engineers and paid consultants have prioritized shortening travel time and speed, which reflect rail stakeholder interests. While prioritizing travel time and speed might be appropriate if the track realignment were constructed in the desert, here, where there is a fragile, densely populated coastal community environment and the travel interval is a mere 1.7 miles long in a 351-mile corridor, those objectives should not override minimizing community impact.

However, they still appear to be driving SANDAG’s objectives.

Route A in the NOP would largely circumvent Del Mar and minimizes severe negative impacts to our city. Del Mar is the city most profoundly affected by realignment and, unlike Solana Beach and the fairgrounds, receives no benefit from travel through the city. NOP Routes B and C are highly destructive to our City. As stated in the City’s December 19 letter, the Value Analysis should retain route A in the NOP. It should also propose modifications to Route A’s proposed portal and platform. The VA should also contain other I-5 focused routes for study.

The VA component of the Realignment project has its roots in SANDAG’s 2023 San Dieguito to Sorrento Valley Double Track Del Mar Tunnels Alternatives Analysis (“SANDAG 2023 Double Track Analysis”), paid for in anticipation of the NOP, and written without community input. In preparing the 2023 report, SANDAG asked only rail stakeholders to formulate and rank the route criteria. Unsurprisingly, the rail interests ranked hostcommunities’ interests and acceptance of the realignment route last in importance (to them) and SANDAG did not invite community or environmental organization input in formulating the report. Rail interests were given a ready ear and top priority. Taxpayers (who would be paying for the realignment) were not invited to participate. The resulting SANDAG two route recommendations (later labeled routes B and C in the NOP) eliminated I-5 focused routes and proposed two highly destructive alternative routes barreling trains through the heart of Del Mar that prioritized travel time and speed at the cost of widespread disruption to Del Mar, eminent domain and loss of local business and tourist revenue. When it found out, Del Mar demanded that SANDAG include study routes in the NOP that circumvent the City and I believe this demand was backed by our political representatives at residents’ insistence.

January 6, 2025 Item 09
3 SANDAG responded by, at the last minute, hurriedly tacking on a route in the NOP which they failed or had insufficient time to develop greater than 10%, but that it stated was feasible and which circumvented the City. Certain features of Route A, such as an underground events platform, were ill-conceived and presumably can be modified. The NOP was published with three routes, only one of which, (A), avoided destruction of homes and businesses in Del Mar and two of which (B and C) maximized destruction in Del Mar.

All three routes were scathingly challenged in the NOP comment period by institutions, multi-family housing next to which toxic portals had been “designed” and citizens at large.

Solana Beach’s Mayor used her position as Vice-Chair to attempt to get Route A eliminated early in the process, as did the Fairgrounds, because they contended it would impose a burden on their businesses. To quell the vociferous dissatisfaction with all the NOP routes, newly appointed CEO Mario Orso promised to broaden and revisit the routes in a “Value Analysis” which was supposed to prioritize community input and technical analysis. But SANDAG has never explained the threshold question of exactly what was meant by a “value analysis”, i.e., whose values are we talking about? Community input to the VA process thus far has been a mirage. Although the VA Committee meetings are clearly the first step in SANDAG’s deliberations and route voting process, SANDAG inappropriately held the meetings closed to the public.

If SANDAG eliminates routes that circumvent the city from the NOP, one must consider the possibility that SANDAG’s value analysis process was a merely a subterfuge to eliminate Route A and avoid a comment period on an amended NOP, as was illegally attempted early in the process by Solana Beach, the Fairgrounds and the City of San Diego.

If all routes circumventing the City are peremptorily eliminated in an amended NOP, the EIR study will be left with only a choice among destructive routes plowing through the heart of Del Mar, meaning that the consistent voices of the community most affected have been effectively ignored by SANDAG. Hopefully this won’t occur. The City Council wisely retained specialized counsel early in the process. If routes that circumvent Del Mar are eliminated in the VA and a narrow list of study routes are voted approval by SANDAG, residents would anticipate that the City Council would determine with its counsel the appropriate timing of a potential challenge to the elimination of feasible, more environmentally appropriate study routes, inasmuch as statutes of limitation for challenging conduct by a governmental agency are short.

Thank you for your work on this important matter.

Respectfully submitted,
Shirli Weiss
551 Stratford Ct.

Del Mar, CA.
858.449.4850
January 6, 2025 Item 09
1 January 4, 2025
Dear Honorable Mayor Gaasterland and Distinguished Members of the City Council:

I am a long-time resident of Del Mar and have practiced law in California for over 40 years. I have closely followed developments surrounding the LOSSAN track realignment project in Del Mar.

Among the matters I hope might be addressed at the City Council on Monday evening are the following:

1. I think residents would appreciate hearing from the City’s engineers as to what suggestions they made to SANDAG, and what in their opinion is the least destructive possible routes circumventing the city that should continue to be studied, including north/ south lagoon routes instead of the current east/west lagoon routes.

3. Has Del Mar been designated a “responsible agency?” If not, why not? As I understand it, permits will need to be secured from Del Mar under its Local Coastal Program for any construction. Can Del Mar withhold permits under its LCP? January 6, 2025 Item 09
2 Simply stated, I believe Del Mar residents demand a realignment route that is I-5 focused and that circumvents, or largely circumvents, the city rather than tunnel through it. We have not yet seen SANDAG sufficiently explore such routes. I am not so naïve as to think that this goal will be easily achieved. To date, SANDAG engineers and paid consultants have prioritized shortening travel time and speed, which reflect rail stakeholder interests. While prioritizing travel time and speed might be appropriate if the track realignment were constructed in the desert, here, where there is a fragile, densely populated coastal community environment and the travel interval is a mere 1.7 miles long in a 351-mile corridor, those objectives should not override minimizing community impact. However, they still appear to be driving SANDAG’s objectives.

The VA component of the Realignment project has its roots in SANDAG’s 2023 San Dieguito to Sorrento Valley Double Track Del Mar Tunnels Alternatives Analysis (“SANDAG 2023 Double Track Analysis”), paid for in anticipation of the NOP, and written without community input. In preparing the 2023 report, SANDAG asked only rail stakeholders to formulate and rank the route criteria. Unsurprisingly, the rail interests ranked host-communities’ interests and acceptance of the realignment route last in importance (to them) and SANDAG did not invite community or environmental organization input in formulating the report. Rail interests were given a ready ear and top priority. Taxpayers (who would be paying for the realignment) were not invited to participate. The resulting SANDAG two route recommendations (later labeled routes B and C in the NOP) eliminated I-5 focused routes and proposed two highly destructive alternative routes barreling trains through the heart of Del Mar that prioritized travel time and speed at the cost of widespread disruption to Del Mar, eminent domain and loss of local business and tourist revenue. When it found out, Del Mar demanded that SANDAG include study routes in the NOP that circumvent the City and I believe this demand was backed by our political representatives at residents’ insistence.

SANDAG responded by, at the last minute, hurriedly tacking on a route in the NOP which they failed or had insufficient time to develop greater than 10%, but that it stated was feasible and which circumvented the City. Certain features of Route A, such as an underground events platform, were ill-conceived and presumably can be modified. The January 6, 2025 Item 09
3 NOP was published with three routes, only one of which, (A), avoided destruction of homes and businesses in Del Mar and two of which (B and C) maximized destruction in Del Mar. All three routes were scathingly challenged in the NOP comment period by institutions, multifamily housing next to which toxic portals had been “designed” and citizens at large.

Thank you for your work on this important matter.

Respectfully submitted,
Shirli Weiss
551 Stratford Ct.

Del Mar, CA.
858.449.4850
January 6, 2025 Item 09
1 Melinda Gould
From: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 9:54 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Red Dot Letter: Item 9 - DMCC Meeting 6 Jan 2025 Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Dear Mayor Gaasterland and City Councilmembers:

I support the study of railroad routes that do not go directly through the City of Del Mar.

Sincerely,
Amy Cheshire
January 6, 2025 Item 09
Coalition for Safer Trains for Our Communities
Exploring Alternative Track Realignment Options
Del Mar City Council Meeting, January 6th, 2025
1 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Coalition for Safer Trains: Who We Are
We are a grassroots organization of San Diego coastal city organizations, residents, scientists, health advocates, engineers, professionals and businesses.

Our Mission is to ensure that the choice of realignment of the rail tracks away from the Del Mar Bluffs is the one that has the least negative impact to the coastal communities and the environment.
2 January 6, 2025 Item 09
What We Seek:
• Selection of an I-5 Focused Route Alternative with Least Adverse Environmental & Community Impact
• No Tunnels Under Homes or Businesses
• No Eminent Domain
• Route Alternatives on or Under Public Land
• Minimizing Disruption of Homes/Businesses During
Construction
• Infrastructure Built OUTSIDE of a Floodplain
• Infrastructure Built AWAY from the eroding hills in Del Mar 3 January 6, 2025 Item 09
What’s at Stake: Three Important California
Interests
o Preserve the environment including air quality and health interests of its people.
o Preserve coastal cities; avoid eminent domain of homes & businesses.
o Move the rail away from the coast and to where most commuters live and work.

In the Coastal Zone, Environmental and Health must be given priority 4 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Minimizing Adverse Community Impacts
Must be Prioritized Over Speed and
Minimally Shorter Travel Time
It Makes No Sense To Prioritize Travel Time or Speed In a Tiny 1.7 Mile Portion of the 351 Mile LOSSAN
CORRIDOR at the Extreme Cost of Eminent Domain of
Homes and Destruction and Financial Ruin of Coastal
Cities During and After Construction
AN I-5 FOCUSED ROUTE THAT LARGELY CIRCUMVENTS THE

COMMUNITY MUST BE PURSUED
5 January 6, 2025 Item 09
The Bottom Line…..
• The public has no visibility or transparency into the Value Analysis; criteria, timeline, or opportunity to provide input • This project is not financially prudent long term, or viable when Options B and C alignments in Del Mar are in a floodplain and dramatically expand the infrastructure in the lagoons? How can this be environmentally sound? • SANDAG had an internal meeting December 20, to winnow down the alignment alternatives that will be presented in January. Then, purposely it is too late for the public to provide new alternatives. This does not promote transparency or trust • Concerns that the Fairgrounds and Solana Beach are still driving the process, for Del Mar to shoulder the burden of destruction. SB and FG cannot impose and dictate to SANDAG that Del Mar should go bankrupt, lose homes, lose business, and be destroyed? No city wants this threat imposed on them by neighboring cities
• No concerns about Safety issues for residents, passengers, cargo and essential military equipment. SANDAG’s only concern is for train speed, safety and profits
• Project budget of $4B for the 1.7-mile project will increase dramatically, due to;

1. Delays in construction from; lawsuits & litigation from residents and businesses involving the 35-50 homes taken by Eminent Domain

2. ROW & Easement costs for over 2,000 homes, inflation, building materials and salary increases, compensation to Del Mar in perpetuity for lost Property Tax Revenue, TOT Tax, Sales Tax, loss of tourism, loss of revenue from Fairgrounds (Kaboo, Fair, Races), due to SANDAG’s north portal demolishing the north end of Del Mar and obstructing access for a decade. • SANDAG will need to compensate in perpetuity the families;

1. Who suffer from the documented health conditions, and pollution living near a portal or above the tunnel

2. Home owners whose homes suffer damage from; cracked slabs, sink hole, vibration, hydrology water drainage, cliff failures due to construction, toxic chemical spills, and train derailments or explosions

3. Families who lost loved ones or their home, due to First Responders and Fire Department cannot access Del Mar from the North for over a decade
6 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Pertinent Realignment History
• JUNE 2022: After years of bluff collapses and failed stabilization measure, the California Coastal Commission conditioned SANDAG’s further construction of Bluff armoring and sea walls in Del Mar on track relocation by 2035. • SANDAG studies conducted in 2017 and 2023 were deeply flawed because they allowed only rail interests and not the communities most impacted to set and rank criteria for realignment and eliminate viable routes. • See Accompanying Appendix for more detailed history.
7 January 6, 2025 Item 09
• In response to massive public, city and Fairgrounds protest of NOP routes, SANDAG initiated a “Value Analysis” where it said it would prioritize community input along with technical analysis.
• SANDAG has said that the Value Analysis considers at least 12 alternative routes. • It is critical that the “Value Analysis” include alternative alignments that have the least negative and severe impact to the communities of Del Mar, Solana Beach and the Fairgrounds, all profoundly affected by the Realignment.

Present Day- the “Value” Analysis
8 January 6, 2025 Item 09
I-5 Focused Realignments Under Consideration?
Route 1: A path that routes the tracks from San Elijo Lagoon to the I-5 and proceeds Sorrento Valley Station.

Route 2: An I-5 east route from the 2023 report modified to lessen community impacts.

Route 3 NOP Route A modified to alter NOP proposed north portal.

Route : Other Routes to Bring Rail to the I-5 north of Solana Beach. 9 January 6, 2025 Item 09
I-5 Focused Route No. 1
Direct Route Along the I-5 Between Sorrento
Valley and Cardiff (via San Elijo Lagoon) or Oceanside
Station
• A Realignment that tears up two coastal
cities to keep the Solana Beach Station where
it is and create a new, discretionary
Fairgrounds station makes no economic or
common sense.
• Solana Beach was outraged at the disruption
that a portal (the NOP Route A portal SANDAG
proposed) disrupting Cedros area would
cause.
• But on Oct. 23, SB's City Council learned that
construction of the San Dieguito double
track and bridge would disrupt its
Cedros/southwest corner for 4-6 years.
10 January 6, 2025 Item 09
I-5 Focused Route No. 1 (cont'd.)
• Instead, SANDAG and Solana Beach should consider not keeping the Solana Beach Station near the coast; (it could be re-located at a vacant building at Loma Santa Fe and I-5). • The benefits of having a Solana Beach station do not outweigh the profound cost to the SB and Del Mar communities of construction disruption and operation of a double track from Dahlia Dr.

South and a raised, obstructing San Dieguito Bridge.
• In addition, the benefits of adding a Fairgrounds platform at the coast do not outweigh the profound costs to the surrounding communities and Fairgrounds of construction and tunneling.

Alternative electric vehicle transportation to the FG from selected sites simply makes makes more sense.
• An I-5 realignment route should circumvent Del Mar and Solana Beach and connect at San Elijo Lagoon (which currently already hosts a track corridor) or Oceanside. Such routes would impact the fewest homes and businesses and travel through one lagoon, same as at present (the San Diego River Bridge would be unneeded and eliminated). 11 January 6, 2025 Item 09
I-5 Focused Route No. 1 (cont’d)
• Without the platform and the SB station, the San Dieguito Bridge and double tracking near the SB station is unnecessary and the funds may be reallocated.

Tearing up Del Mar, Solana Beach, and shutting down the Fairgrounds and the commercial district and homes of SB (for minimum 4 ½ years) is unwarranted and unnecessary.
• The existing bridge could be rerouted to the south side of the San Elijo Lagoon and tunnel into the high hillside there without disturbing homes. There is no need to massively disrupt coastal cities to retain a small station and create an expensive, completely discretionary events platform used for part of the year, where the public cannot access.
• The realignment could connect with the I-5 in Cardiff at the San Elijo Lagoon across from Manchester and by-pass Solana Beach and Del Mar, without negatively impacting Cardiff homes and businesses. 12 January 6, 2025 Item 09
A More Direct I-5 route bypassing Del Mar and
Solana Beach makes more sense;
13 P
Has SANDAG thought about keeping the rail lines near the I-5 at Oceanside instead of heading towards the coast bifurcating towns going south? The rail lines are next to the I-5 already.

January 6, 2025 Item 09
I-5 Focused Route No. 2
• The largely I-5 East route in the 2017 Report was
eliminated in the 2023 Report where rail stakeholders
prioritized only rail interests.
• Does the Value Analysis include it, and propose how it be modified to avoid the adverse impacts to San Dieguito Drive and Racetrack View Drive?
14 January 6, 2025 Item 09
I-5 Focused Route No. 3: NOP Route A
• The I-5 focused Route A outlined in the NOP drew protest from the City of Solana Beach and the Fairgrounds mainly based on the disruption to their business caused by construction of the portal that SANDAG created for Route A o But now it is clear that the re-construction of the San Dieguito River Bridge and FG Platform would cause as great a disruption to Solana Beach and the Fairgrounds. Ways to eliminate the San Dieguito Bridge should be sought.
o NOP Route A should be further studied with the elimination of an FG platform or with a re-located portal, but retaining the concept of circumventing the cities and joining with I-5. 15 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Two Other Potential I-5 Alignments that Bring
Rail Away From Coast to the Commuters:
• Rail alignments utilizing the I-5 where CALTRANS has the ROW must be explored and pursued. Two possible routes to bring the rail from the coast over to the I-5 and have minimal community impact and possibly no eminent domain of homes or businesses and utilize public land
Two possible locations at which to bring rail lines to the I-5:
• 1. Route over Agua Hedionda Lagoon
In Carlsbad, just south of Agua Hedionda, the tracks and highway are about 0.25 miles apart and the land between is undeveloped space and no private development. From there going south, stations at the commuter parking lots along the I-5 between Vista Ave. and Manchester may make sense. There is a vacant building located at Loma Santa Fe and I-5 where the Solana Beach Train station could be re-located if needed. • 2. Route over Poinsettia Rd
The tracks are less than a quarter mile from I-5 at two points just north of Poinsettia Station in Carlsbad with public infrastructure and/or empty land in between the tracks and I-5. These are the most natural routes to bring the rail to the I-5 from the coast. This needs to be studied as the most environmentally sound alternative and possibly much lower cost than 3 to 6 miles of tunnel under Del Mar. Transferring the rail away from the coast in all the coastal cities to the I-5 should be the long-term goal.
16 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Why not an I-5 focused train route close to work that Commuters would use ? People use the I-5 so much because it is close to work

EMPLOYMENT CENTERS
• San Marcos: In 2024 the population of the City of San Marcos is 93,967. The average population projection for the year 2035 is approximately 145,000. From 2010 to 2020 the population increased by 10,901 (12.99%). For the same period the rate of growth for the United States was 8.17%. Top employers in San Marcos; San Marcos Unified School District 3,272, Palomar Community College 1,910, California Sate University 1,749, Kaiser Permanente 1,300, Hunter Industries 831, UPS 560, to name a few.
• Carlsbad: In 2022, Carlsbad and its neighbor San Marcos employed 100,000 people across a number of sectors including professional, technical and scientific, manufacturing, health care, finance and insurance and agricultural. • Encinitas: In 2022, the economy of Encinitas, CA employed 31k people in sectors including Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services, Manufacturing, and Health Care & Social Assistance (3,334 people), and the highest paying industries are Utilities ($142,841), Manufacturing ($127,696), and Wholesale Trade ($113,841).

Source: https://datausa.io/
17 January 6, 2025 Item 09
I-5 Possible Option: Aqua Hedionda Cut Over
from coast to I-5 (1300 feet)
18 January 6, 2025 Item 09
I-5 Possible Option: Poinsettia Station Cut -
Over to I-5 (2000 feet)
19 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Interstate I-5 Train Route is a True 21st Century Idea
• Moving passenger and freight rail transport from
the coastal cities to the I-5 (and I-15)
corridors, should be the long-term goal and the
realignment from the Del Mar bluffs could be the
first phase.
• This approach places rail transit nearer to major
employment centers, retail, health care,
entertainment and hospitality services.
• Removing the tracks from the center of our
picturesque beachside villages also increases
safety for all as the number of trains traveling at
higher speeds will increase and SANDAG can
eliminate more road grade crossings.
• SANDAG’s goal is to take curves out of the
route to increase speed and lower travel time,
lower risk of derailment and eliminate road
grade crossings. An I-5 Route does this!
20 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Why Routes Similar to NOP Routes B
and C Must be Rejected
21 January 6, 2025 Item 09
WHY NOP ROUTES B AND C MUST BE REJECTED:

If NOP's Routes B and C (or very similar alternatives) remain in the Value Analysis:
• These routes would tear up Del Mar for many years, build infrastructure in a flood zone requiring increased construction cost, create toxic, concentrated high level air pollution, and in the water plain, noise pollution near homes and the coast, and take homes to build.
• These routes would destroy Del Mar, financially ruin the city and devastate resident’s lives by taking their homes. The damage to Del Mar would be enormous as it would lose Sales Tax Revenue, Property Tax Revenue and tourism as well. The City would not survive.

This makes no economic or common sense 22
January 6, 2025 Item 09
WHY NOP ROUTES B AND C SHOULD BE REJECTED:

These Routes Are in a Floodplain
• NOP ROUTES B AND C PLACE

INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRAINS IN A

FLOODPLAIN
o The North Portal and tunnel locations of Routes
B and C trade one environmental hazard for
another. Additional infrastructure will be
required to plan for 100-year storms, King Tides
and sea level rise and will not eliminate the risk
of traveling in a floodplain.
o The tunnel will need a U Structure around it,
and the Portal, bridge, & rail line will require
flood gates, and increased maintenance.
o Routes B and C must be rejected Los Penasquitos Lagoon: Above photo on a normal day Photo below shows Lagoon during King Tide, Nov 15th, 2024 The berm is barely above the water line 23
January 6, 2025 Item 09
WHY NOP ROUTES B AND C MUST BE REJECTED: They
Require Forced Eminent Domain:
• Route B and C Requires at least 7-8 acres be demolished, Eminent Domain Taking of Homes, forced easements, and foreseeable multi-year litigation. o Eminent Domain is more than the taking of homes, it means taking a family's largest asset, uprooting and disrupting lives, changing schools for families and prevents generational inheritance of a family's choice of home. o Homes not taken near portals will suffer concentrated noise, ground borne vibration (home damage), documented health risks, pollution and constant noise from ventilators and be unlivable.

Obtaining slightly less rail travel time (84 seconds), or more speed does not outweigh the massive negative community impact of Routes B and C 24 January 6, 2025 Item 09
WHY NOP ROUTES B AND C MUST BE REJECTED: Health
Hazards to the Surrounding Community:

Highly Toxic Air Pollution: Concentrated Air and Micro Plastic Pollution at Portals will be propelled into Del Mar, and across the Fairgrounds, and north to Solana Beach by 24 hour ventilators.

Severe Noise Impacts will cause disruption of residents sleep and numerous documented health impacts. According to SANDAG's 2023 report (Table 9) there will be between 2,280 and 2,724 residences that will experience severe noise and vibration impacts if Route B or C is implemented.
25 January 6, 2025 Item 09
WHY NOP ROUTES B AND C MUST BE REJECTED: Safety
Concerns About Seismic Vulnerability of Entire Del Mar
Hillside
• Recent USGS report stated the entire State of CA. is at risk for coastal landslides. Many CA coastal towns have already experienced major coastal damage from the climate driven storms. • FEMA Relative Risk of 99% earthquake in this region.
• The SANDAG Project Area is seismically active. (SANDAG 2017 Report, p. 29) • December 5th, 2024, USGS based in Los Angeles, recorded a 7.0 earthquake northwest of San Francisco, initiated less than a mile below the surface, made it uncommonly shallow. More than a dozen aftershocks were reported.
• The Rose Canyon fault zone is only 2 miles west of the SANDAG project . • There is significant potential for strong ground motion during the structure's (tunnels) design life • Del Mar Bluffs and the hillside where SANDAG wants to tunnel and install portals are made of the same Torrey Sandstone and suffer the same erosion. There are mudslides, cliff collapses, sinkholes, homes with cracked slabs, hydrology issues now in the hillside, and the route is in the floodplain
How is SANDAG going to Stop Erosion, Water Drainage,
Earthquakes and Tsunami threats, in this fragile hill to protect the homes and residents?
39 January 6, 2025 Item 09
National Oceanic & Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) latest projections
• Sea Levels along the
U.S. coastlines are
projected to rise, on
average 10-12
inches by 2050
• High Tides will
impact Del Mar, the
Fairgrounds, and
alignments through
Del Mar and across
San Dieguito River
27 https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/#/layer/fld/2/-13054006.20602383/3891536.4677686812/16/satellite/none/0.8/2050/interHigh/midAccretion Sea Level Rise High Tides
January 6, 2025 Item 09
Why NOP Routes B and C Should Be Rejected: Freight
Carriage of Hazardous Materials
Transporting Hazardous materials by
rail under homes raises the risk of a
catastrophic event.

There were 1,164 Train Derailments in the
U.S. in 2022, about 3 per day.

NPR Article, March 9, 2023
BNSF Railroad is required to move hazardous
material in the LOSSAN Corridor, including
ethanol, crude oil, refined petroleum, chlorine,
sulphuric acid, radioactive material and
nuclear waste. The military uses rail to
transport nuclear, chemical, and conventional
munitions.

Association of American Railroads Website 28
January 6, 2025 Item 09
The Hazmat Risk Under Homes is Real
• 2001 Baltimore Train Set Tunnel on fire, Shuts Down Baltimore – A 60- car freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed inside the tunnel.

Entrances to the city from all major highways, and the barricades turned downtown Baltimore into an island of billowing smoke
• 2019 Sarnia Ontario, 25 cars and one locomotive derailed, including one tank car released 12,000 gallons of Sulphuric acid. Structural defects were identified in 149 or the 416 cars that were inspected • 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, 38 freight cars derailed on the outskirts of East Palestine, a town of almost 5,000 residents. One year later, a massive environmental cleanup still underway, costing more than $1 Billion. Derailment triggered massive fire, belching toxic smoke. 20 cars contained hazardous materials, which was later set on fire to prevent a larger explosion.
• Freight trains are longer than the City of Del Mar. Rail Stakeholders can not confirm this disaster won't happen.
• How can Rail Stakeholders consciously propose any rail alignment under homes and through towns with this risk, when there are safer options?
29 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Route B and C's Proposed Cut & Cover Tunnel
for North Portal - High Negative Community
Impact
• A Cut-and-Cover Tunnel means demolishing 8-10
acres and forced eminent domain of homes. Homes
left near this construction will be only 35 feet above
the tunnel and will experience ground borne vibration.
• Once the Cut-and-Cover Tunnel is completed, the
road will be constructed at least 20 feet higher with a large berm built alongside. It remains in a flood zone
and severely and negatively impacts the
environment, hydrology, residents and businesses.

Anticipate litigation for cracked slabs, slippage,
erosion and sink holes created by the construction.
• Homes left near the portal will be look directing into a huge berm. There will be litigation by residents
whose homes are impacted by loss of value.
• Residents will be impacted by noisy large ventilation fans running 24/7, spewing toxic pollutants into their
homes.
• Residents near the portals will suffer documented
health disorders associated with living next to a train and portal.
30 January 6, 2025 Item 09
What About Relative Cost?
SANDAG's Route B and C Cost Estimates Did Not include:
o The cost of eminent domain acquisition of homes for Routes B or C including litigation costs o The additional cost of acquisition of easements under hundreds of homes for Route B and of easements under Del Mar for Route C
o Compensation for diminution in property value for the 2250-2700 residences that SANDAG predicts will be afflicted with "severe noise and vibration " impacts o Compensation for adverse health effects of toxic air and microplastic pollution, class actions and individual litigation.

In the end, Routes B and C will cost more than a route that does not tunnel through Del Mar or pollute Del Mar and Solana Beach neighborhoods and result in years of litigation and inflation 32
January 6, 2025 Item 09
What About Relative Cost?
• The Realignment Project is a once-in-100 year project, the choice must be the right one, not the least expensive one.
• SANDAG's early cost estimates for Routes B (tunnel under homes) and C (tunnel under Camino Del Mar) included only construction costs, but neither SANDAG nor NCTD nor BNSF own a right of way in virtually any portion of the Realignment Routes.
• Other Projects Over Budget:
• The California High-Speed Rail (HSR) Project is estimated to cost between $89 and $128 billion to complete Phase 1. This is a significant increase from the original $33 billion cost that voters approved in 2008. It has turned into a massive boondoggle.
33 January 6, 2025 Item 09
What About The San Dieguito Bridge and
Platform?
• The San Dieguito Bridge and Fairgrounds Platform project (SD Bridge Project), has not yet been built. That project must not be allowed to drive the choice of Track Realignment, as this would be the quintessential tail wagging the dog. • The SD Bridge Project was conceived in 2009 and designed before 2017, over 10 years before projected 2027 implementation. It will cause 4-6 years of business and traffic disruption, as well as noise and pollution, primarily to south Solana Beach and the Fairgrounds' events. 2017 Coastal Act concurrence was based on a narrow, outdated presentation of alternatives. The Project underwent no CEQA review. • The location of the SD Bridge Project is part of the Track Realignment project; It should be delayed until the optimal Track Realignment Route is chosen, not drive the choice.
34 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Conclusion
• An I-5 focused alignment must be pursued.
• Travel time and speed must not be prioritized over avoiding adverse impact to the surrounding communities.
• The Coalition looks forward to reviewing the Value Analysis and providing our analysis.

Thank you for your attention.

Coalition for Safer Trains for Our Communities
35 January 6, 2025 Item 09
Red Dot for Agenda Item 10 (01/06/2025 Council meeting) Submitted by Julie Maxey-Allison
Member, Arts Advisory Committee
Bonnie Grossman, Chair, Arts Advisory Committee
To: Mayor Gaasterland, City Council members Martinez,
Quirk, Spelich
City Manager Ashley Jones
The Arts Advisory (AAC) Committee was established in
2017* in unison with the Public Art Policy** after long extensive process of consulting Del Mar committee
members and residents and vetting ideas and procedures
to bring art to Del Mar. The appointed AAC members were made up of knowledgeable and committed residents along
with representatives from the DMVA and Del Mar
Foundation who worked together to originate and present, with the sponsorship of the Del Mar Foundation, art shows gathering local artists, and a temporary sculpture exhibit throughout Del Mar.

However, a unanimous recommendation from the AAC
members who carefully followed the procedures spelled
out in the Public Art Policy, with respect to an artwork for the Del Mar Civic Center, was dismissed by the City
Council in 2023, which refused to follow the Public Art Policy by opening a public comment period on the
proposed art acquisition, with only 2 of 5 Council members voting to follow the Policy by allowing the public to
comment on the AAC-recommended artworks.
1 January 6, 2025 Item 10
Following that refusal by the Council to even allow public comment on a proposal that the AAC had worked on for
more than a year, some members of the AAC resigned,
and others declined to apply for re-appointment. And it is no surprise that community members who are passionate
about bringing public art to Del Mar would decline to apply for the AAC when it appears that the Council is not likely to honor or follow the adopted Public Art Policy.

After the first temporary art sculpture selections, finalized by the AAC after a rigorous vetting process with the aid of an experienced professional art curator, were approved by the City Council, the AAC was excited and hopeful about an opportunity to bring in a permanent sculpture by an
internationally acclaimed sculptor who had in fact worked in California: Isamu Noguchi. The AAC was unanimous in
support of this possibility. Funding/donations were
available for the acquisition of the artwork, valued at $250,000 plus installation, and it was a piece with a
proven record of safe installation in public places. Before any introduction of the artist’s work, including a
representation of the space where it would be, to the Del Mar public, who would be given an opportunity to provide public comment on the work, the City Council dismissed
the possibility, depriving Del Mar residents the opportunity to learn more about the proposal and comment. And, of
course, depriving the local restaurants and shops of a new stream of revenue because the Noguchi sculpture would
have been major attraction to visitors.
2 January 6, 2025 Item 10
Therefore AAC members decamped, quit in frustration.

The AAC was not even listened to. No efforts were made
to learn and understand choices or recommendations. No
City Council members were interested in accepting an
open position as liaison to the AAC. And the City Council has not given a thought of how the city could fund and
support bringing public art to Del Mar as many neighboring cities have.

I would be happy to be part of a group that charts a
path forward, IF the City Council is committed to following the processes set forth in the adopted Public Arts
Policy. If a Council majority is not in a position to signal its willingness to follow the adopted Public Arts Policy at this time, the better approach would be to refrain from any
action at this time with respect to the AAC, and revisit the possibility of restoring a functioning AAC at a later time.

Meanwhile Del Mar is missing out.

NOTE:
*On May 15, 2017, the City Council passed Resolution
2017-32 (PDF) creating the City's first public art committee and Public Art Policy. The committee was developed
through interest expressed by the community to serve as a cultural enrichment to its residents and the community life along with enhancing the economic vitality of the City. **The Public Art Policy sets guidelines to accept
donated or consigned pieces as well as installations
such as murals on private property. The Arts
3 January 6, 2025 Item 10
Advisory Committee has published an approval
process (PDF) and flow chart (PDF) for donated work
and an arts opportunity map. Starting in May, the art
policy would allow for the acquisition of art pieces with City funds.
4 January 6, 2025 Item 10
1 Melinda Gould
From: Jennifer Anderson <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 11:28 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Cc: Terry Gaasterland; Dan Quirk; Ashley Jones; [email protected]; John Spelichprivate Subject: Red-Dot for Agenda Item 10 (01/06/25) City Council meeting: Arts Advisory Committee Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Dear City Clerk: Kindly submit the following red-dot email to the City Council for the 01/06/25 meeting. Thank you, Jenny Anderson
Honorable Mayor and distinguished members of the City Council:

I am concerned to see the proposal to disband the Del Mar Arts Advisory committee. I understand our community experienced a frustrating and disappointing period around the selection of a permanent art piece for the Civic Center. However, I do believe our residents, businesses and visitors appreciate art and the value it brings to our community. Please don’t give up on art in Del Mar.

If we cannot find a way to re-energize and support the Arts Advisory Committee now, I would like to suggest that rather than cancel the committee, we put it on hold and revisit it when we have a full City Council and/or new work plan. I am sure a lot of work went into establishing the Del Mar Arts Advisory Committee and Public Art Program and I hope we can find a way to continue to support it and its mission.

Respectfully submitted,
Jenny Anderson
Serpentine Drive
January 6, 2025 Item 10

Del Mar City CouncilJanuary 6, 2025

Del Mar City Council
January 6, 2025