Peanut Calling

When the phone rings at Craig and Sue Harms' house, you aren't really sure whether or not you should answer it. It may just be Peanut, their adopted Congo African Grey parrot, doing his telephone ring imitation.

Peanut also mimics telephone conversations - in two different voices - and he talks from morning till night.

Craig and Sue adopted Peanut after seeing him on Petfinder.com, the largest searchable database of homeless pets on the Web. His photo and description were posted by Perfectly Precious Rescue and Adoption in St. Louis. Their adoptable pets can be viewed at http://perfectlyprecious.petfinder.com.

Peanut had been relinquished by a family that no longer wanted him; perhaps they found out that a parrot is a long-term commitment. Parrots can live from 20 to 50 years or longer.

When Craig and Sue arrived to meet Peanut, he climbed up into their arms, nestled against their cheeks and said, "Hello."

The next thing Peanut knew, he was going upriver - in this case to a new home in Illinois.

Petfinder.com has approximately 300 adoptable birds on its Web site, which highlights about 130,000 pets in all.

In 1998, The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) partnered with the site to provide shelter outreach and an extensive library of pet-related materials.

Petfinder.com has also allied with PetHealth, Inc., to provide a gift of two months of ShelterCare Pet Insurance, paid for by Petfinder.com, to every dog or cat adopted from a Petfinder.com member in approved states and provinces. The program is the first of its kind for shelter pets.

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.