The columnist and LW's husband are completely right.
However, I feel like playing devil's advocate here today, so:
The loss of the bird wasn’t my doing; it was something unfortunate that could not have been predicted.
This is flatly untrue. This could absolutely have been predicted and ought to have been anticipated by every adult in this story who was ever expected to be responsible for Landon and his pet. As LW says, they live in a semi-rural area where predators are abundant. I live in a major city and, guess what, predators are abundant. (Mostly cats, now that my neighbor's out of control pit bulls have been removed by the city, but we also have a variety of hawks and falcons.) A very brief perusal of parrot forums suggests that a. clipped birds can still fly b. but not very well so c. for their own safety they still should not be taken out without being in a cage or harness, and of course never left unattended outside for even a moment.
And if I could find that in a single google search then Landon's parents certainly should have found that and made that a rule for birdcare. And if they didn't then LW should have done the same google search and still made that a rule while the bird was in their home. People absolutely suck when it comes to caring for unusual animals, so I'd always want to double check general advice when petsitting, even if the owner didn't give me specific rules.
no subject
However, I feel like playing devil's advocate here today, so:
The loss of the bird wasn’t my doing; it was something unfortunate that could not have been predicted.
This is flatly untrue. This could absolutely have been predicted and ought to have been anticipated by every adult in this story who was ever expected to be responsible for Landon and his pet. As LW says, they live in a semi-rural area where predators are abundant. I live in a major city and, guess what, predators are abundant. (Mostly cats, now that my neighbor's out of control pit bulls have been removed by the city, but we also have a variety of hawks and falcons.) A very brief perusal of parrot forums suggests that a. clipped birds can still fly b. but not very well so c. for their own safety they still should not be taken out without being in a cage or harness, and of course never left unattended outside for even a moment.
And if I could find that in a single google search then Landon's parents certainly should have found that and made that a rule for birdcare. And if they didn't then LW should have done the same google search and still made that a rule while the bird was in their home. People absolutely suck when it comes to caring for unusual animals, so I'd always want to double check general advice when petsitting, even if the owner didn't give me specific rules.