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My second child is still finding his voice. He will be four years old this April and is still non verbal.

This is not the point I wish to discuss even though I am certain that most people with good intentions will have a number of helpful suggestions as to why my son isn’t speaking and what can be done about it.

His name is Kingston. And one of the suggestions I was given was to get the child a parrot. So for many months now my husband and I have put a tremendous amount of time and energy researching the best parrot for our son.

When showing Kingston different photos of parrots he always selects the same one. The blue and gold macaw. No matter how many different images he sees or positions of the parrot he continues to choose that breed every single time.

The blue and gold macaw, although a wonderful parrot, does have an extremely high price tag. And as much as we would love to provide our children with their requests, within reason, this was just something out of our financial reach.

This is where my story begins:

To my complete disbelief, on the 4th of March I found this advertisement-

http://www.petpages.com.au/classified/886469

It read-

For Sale – proven pair of blue and gold macaw parrots

Homebush, NSW
$1,200.00
They will come with cage and landing stand..
they are fully weaned and ready to go to a good home. All our babies are weaned to Zupreem pellets and fruits and vegetables before they go. They are DNA sexed and health screened.

One can only imagine the excitement I felt for my son at the possibility of providing him with the only thing he has ever chosen by himself in his life. And not just one, but two blue and gold macaws!

I made an email enquiry immediately to find out whether they were still available as they had been listed for sale two days earlier. Then I stayed awake the whole night hoping and praying that they would still be available.

At about 8am on the 5th of March I received this email:

Thanks for the interest , the parrots are still available and they are
well train,friendly with people talk and sing,. they are very playful
and loves much attention and to be pampered.they are the sweetest
little one, very social.they will be coming to you with some basic
supplies like food,toys.I will will like to know a little about you
first before giving them to you:
– Do you have kids, if yes how old?
-Do you have other animals at home.if yes are they friendly with other Animals?
-Your age?
– Do you have a vet already?
– please tell me more you know about Bird and this breed especially?
It is important you get back to me with answers to all this questions
as i would not like my birds to get hurt or maltreated.

First i wish to let you know that i am giving these birds out because
i have been transfer to work in Kununurra,WA. So there is limited or
no time to look after them since the job is so demanding.so all i am
looking for is a loving home for them. so if you can assure me of
taking good care of the birds then i will be more than happy to
offer them both to you depending on how serious you are .so presently
the birds are here now with me and i will spent like
9 months here,Let me know if you will be coming here to pick them up
so that i can arrange a date for you to come but if you wont be coming
to pick them up i will arrange for the birds to be transported and
home delivered to you .So i am giving them out now for $1200 each
including the transportation fare to your home address.if you are
still interested then get back to me for more details and pictures.
Thanks

Of course I replied immediately and then waited anxiously to hear back. Every time my phone would alert me that I had received an email my heart would skip a beat. I have never been so tense in my entire life.

6pm came and I finally received a reply:

Thanks for getting back to me and i am really happy that you are
interested in given these Birds a new and lovely home. All i want is
the best for them as i know they will make an excellent home pet and a
perfect companion . They will be coming with all their accessories and
also have a year health guarantee as confirm by their vet doctor.
Presently i am in Kununurra,WA and if you can come here to pick them
up i shall be very happy but if coming will be a problem to you then i
can arrange for a home delivery to your home first thing in the
morning which will cost you $1200 each including the delivery fee
to your home. So if you would not be able to come then all i will be
needing in other to get them to your home are your full home delivery
information as below

Full Names…….
City……..
Home address…….
Postcode………
Cell number…….
Land Line Number………
Immediately you email me the information i will have them registered
at the courier with all your details which the courier will use to
transport them to your home, the courier will contact you to give you
all the delivery details that is the departure and arrival time of
when they will be delivered at your home address and also a tracking
for the birds,All you need to pay is $1200 each and you are to pay
directly to the courier since they are the one to transport them at
your home. I have also attach pictures of both male and females let me
know your prefer sex or if you will take both.

Waiting to hear back from you
Thanks

It was a scam.

Under normal circumstances I feel that I would have been able to tolerate this scam better and perhaps even look at it and laugh at my naivety. However this involved my child which has left me feeling completely numb.

My hope now is that no one actually falls for this scam out of desperation. It just goes to show that more often than not if something seems too good to be true, then it usually is.

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Posted by someonesmother, 6th March 2014