Avian Health Network Newsletter: December 2003

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Avian Health Network Newsletter
December 2003 - Volume II, Issue III

In this issue:

Online Conference
Website Review of the Month
Light a Tree to StopPDD
AHN Gets Educated & Starts New Out Reach Programs for 2004

Online Conference

Thanks go to everyone who participated in the Conference.

Special thanks to all our speakers:
- Dr. Branson Ritchie DVM
- Dr. Greg Burkett DVM ABVP
- Joe Arbogast
- Garry Wallen
- Gloria Scholbe
- Gerry Aronson
- Bob First CPA
- Carolyn Swicegood
- Janice Shade
- Mike Burton
- Pamela Clark
- Jean Pattison
- Liz Wilson,
- Joanie Doss
- all of the vendors who donated prizes for the conference drawing
- everyone who subscribed to the Conference-especially those who not only subscribed, but purchased tickets to the drawing.
This has been AHNs best Conference in terms of both fundraising and speakers. Our winners were listed in the AHN Conference and due to space limitations we cannot list them all. However, if you would like to request the list of winners from information@stoppdd.org we can go into the group and send that list to you.

For those who were unable to attend, bound copies of the Proceedings will be available in early 2004. The cost will be $30 and theyll be available in the shopping cart at www.stoppdd.org

Thanks again to everyone who helped to make the Online Conference such a wonderful success!
Website Review of the Month

To say that this months website has a lot to offer is an understatement! You might have a little trouble navigating your way around this site, but believe me; it will be worth it! Sibylle Faye Yakan is the author of this website and has put together a plethora of information.

Just a few of the Bird Healthcare links include IDENTIFYING A POTENTIALLY SICK BIRD / DO-IT-YOURSELF TESTING FOR DISEASES & INFECTIONS, GENERAL BIRD SAFETY TIPS - DANGERS / POISONING RISKS, MEDICAL INFO / VETS / RESEARCH and HOMEOPATHY / HOLISTIC HEALTH CARE. I counted over 30 links just under the last item! Some of those included Let Food Be Your Medicine, Pets and Grapefruit Seed Extract, Herbal Remedies / Drug Interactions, Natural Holistic Petcare, The Kitchen Physician Citricidal Cure and Disinfectant.

Under General Bird Care Guidelines on the Companion Bird Care page, you will find Nutrition, Foods as Natural Medicines, Bird Safety Issues, Emergencies / First Aid, Toxicities, Average Bird Weights, and Special Needs / Handicapped Birds.

This is a very small sampling of what is available on this site. It is simply too large to fully describe here but if you want to find almost anything relating to the health of birds, check out this site!
Light a Tree to StopPDD

Join us this year in our first Holiday Fundraiser to help StopPDD! Help us meet our goal this winter of having another check to EDRG at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine for PDD by the end of January 2004! Dont miss the free toy of the month drawing! You have until 19 December 2003 to get your entry in!

Happy Holidays to you and your flock from all of us! We would like to wish all our supporters a wonderful and safe holiday season! A Special Heartfelt thank you to everyone who pulled together this past year to help StopPDD for our birds and their owners who are having to deal with this dreaded disease. The outflow of love, support and caring that was shown to those whove lost loved ones or are dealing with PDD was truly astounding! Our wish for the New Year is that lost flock members will not be forgotten and that their memories will help us all to continue to pull together to carry on the fight to help StopPDD.

Just for fun Valerie Wixen has come up with holiday songs to help you remember some hazards that come up around the holiday season. Enjoy singing them to your flock! ~ A big Thank you to Val!
AHN Gets Educated & Starts New Out Reach Programs for 2004

Education and community outreach is one of the major commitments at AHN. In keeping with our mission statement we would like announce our new additions for the coming year and hope that everyone will help to take part.

AHN is preparing to launch a new section of http://avianhealthnetwork.info memorializing all of the avian companions who have been lost to disease or accidents (other than PDD). It is our hope that sharing stories and information about our lost birds will help others. If you would like to be included and help with this section please contact AHN.
- If you are having trouble getting our newsletter and announcements please subscribe to our new newsletter email group by sending a blank email.
- If you have lost a loved one to PDD our StopPDD Memorial Quilt is open to all who have lost their battle with this horrible disease. We would be honored to include your loved one on the PDD Memorial Quilt. For more information please contact us and forward a picture and the information you would like included on your bird's memorial page at our PDD Memorial Quilt.
- Are you Living with PDD? Our Living with PDD section is open to all who are having to deal with PDD or suspected PDD. If you would like to share your story with others, please contact us.
- Join our Living with PDD support group. Our new group is open to all who are dealing with or have dealt with PDD. Send a blank email to to subcribe today. This is not a topic driven group but a place for caregivers to get to know each other and share information.

Are you looking to make a New Years Resolution this year?

Do you have a few extra hours a month you can donate to help? Join the Avian Health Network volunteer team to share and support other bird owners to help StopPDD. We are always looking for individuals who can offer to donate time each month to get involved in our fundraising activities, staff information booths at trade shows, fairs, and bird marts, download and print out educational brochures and give them to your local pet stores, vets, animal rescue organizations, etc., who can help with the annual "Birds of a Feather" Quilt, and work with bird clubs on getting information out about PDD. A lot of this can be done right from your computer. Contact us to learn what you can do to help today!

Fine Print ~ The information contained herein is for educational purposes only, and is not meant to substitute for quality avian veterinary care. AHN cannot guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein, nor the information distributed by other groups or resources referenced in this document. Those with a bird(s) exhibiting any symptom of illness should seek the advice of a qualified avian medical professional immediately.

The opinions and/or content of the published documents are the sole opinions of their author and are not the opinions of Avian Health Network, Inc., their board, volunteers, or other participants. Avian Health Network, Inc. further does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information, text, or other items contained within these materials.

Newsletter articles may be reprinted on the WWW in their entirety, including title and byline, as long as a link to http://www.AvianHealthNetwork.info is provided with the statement: "First published in Avian Health Network, Inc., Newsletter Volume x Issue y."

Avian Health Network, Inc. #54-2068091 is a 501(C) 3 headquartered and incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We are an organization of volunteers with no paid personnel. We are committed to raising public awareness and funds for avian diseases such as PDD. Financial Statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs, Commonwealth of Virginia. Proceeds generated by the StopPDD campaign will go to help subsidize the research of the Emerging Diseases Research Group (EDRG) at the University of Georgias College of Veterinary Medicine.

StopPDD & AvianHealthNetwork copyright 2001-2007 by Avian Health Network, Inc, all rights reserved. Text, graphics, and HTML code are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission.