Exotic bird rescue in Phoenix saves more than a dozen cockatoos

PHOENIX - It's a loud and raucous beginning to 2022 for a bird rescue that operates in south Phoenix.

Kim Vallen with Tropical Concept Exotic Bird Rescue says her nonprofit got a call on Dec. 22 about 15 cockatoos being kept in a garage in Cottonwood.

"It's heartbreaking. It was disgusting. Everything bad for a bird was in their bowls," she said of the conditions the bird were in.

The owner was reportedly ill and couldn’t care for the birds. Vallen scrambled to move the birds to her exotic bird rescue.

Not all cockatoos were healthy. One has to have a wing amputated, and the vet bills have climbed into the thousands.

She's fundraising and trying to find good homes for the cockatoos.

Soon, she will be moving four of them to a bird rescue in Nevada. Two others have been adopted and will be headed to their forever homes out once they have been quarantined and tested.

Why take this on? Vallen says, "I rescue. That's what I do. And here I am."

For more information on the rescue, updates on the cockatoos and to donate, visit this link.

A white cockatoo who has been rescued in Phoenix

A cockatoo who has been rescued in Phoenix

Lightrail construction impacting rescue, business

In December 2021, FOX 10 reported that Vallen and her husband Dan run the rescue out of their storefront, A Tropical Concept Nursery.

Despite friendly animals and a thriving jungle of tropical plants, the couple says business since the light rail construction has evaporated and people can’t get to the driveway easily anymore.

"It's nothing but problems," he said.

Valley Metro says this is the heaviest part of the project, relocating utilities and the impact will lessen once completed.