A Colorado Springs nonprofit has carved out an unusual niche in local animal rescue, operating as a haven for exotic birds and fish that their owners can no longer care for.
Fins and Feathers functions as both a sanctuary and rescue for exotic birds, and manager Roxann Cooper describes it as the only facility in Colorado dedicated to rescuing fish as well. Without exception, every animal at the North Academy Boulevard storefront arrived through a surrender.
The organization traces its origins to 2014, when Gabe Cooper, Roxann's husband, agreed to house a friend's cockatiel. Additional requests from other owners followed, and what began as a basement collection of unwanted exotic animals gradually expanded — though at that stage he was accepting birds rather than placing them. He opened a retail storefront in 2022 and moved the rescue to its present location a few years after that.
Surrenders driven by financial hardship tend to involve smaller species — budgies and cockatiels most commonly — which are also easier to place in new homes, though the rescue takes in larger birds as well when space allows and after a veterinary health clearance. On the fish side, aggressive species are turned away, while semi-aggressive or community fish may be accepted depending on capacity across the rescue's eight tanks; owners most often give up fish when relocating, because moving aquatic animals is logistically challenging.
Roughly two dozen birds at the location live as permanent sanctuary residents, among them Jade, a Severe macaw in her mid-20s, relinquished after her owners had children and found that she no longer fit the household. Two additional macaws share the space: one given up by a family that realized it had taken on more than it could handle, and another whose owner's advancing dementia made continued care impossible.
Other animals are available for adoption, including budgies, lineolated parakeets, cockatiels, lovebirds, and parrotlets, all housed together in a large shared enclosure near the entrance. Staff are deliberate about matching larger birds with suitable adopters. "We don't want these bigger birds to be put in a situation where they're in yet another home, and they get given up on, and they're back here, or someone else's home," Cooper said.
Cooper said the rescue regularly fields questions about why the animals aren't released outdoors. Her answer: most would not make it. Even those with some chance of survival typically lack the skills to locate food or water independently, she said, leaving the organization responsible for their long-term care.
Beyond housing and rehoming animals, the shop provides reservable bird play sessions, sells supplies for bird owners, and offers grooming and boarding services. Cooper noted that exotic birds are widely reported to be the third most popular pet choice yet the most frequently rehomed, a pattern she attributes to how little is still understood about species that remain far less domesticated than cats or dogs.
Whether the sanctuary will expand its intake capacity to meet continued demand for exotic pet rehoming has not been announced.