Eileen McCarthy
Eileen McCarthy is the cofounder and executive director of Midwest Avian Adoption and Rescue Services (MAARS). Eileen began her work with bird placement in 1998 as the adoption committee chair of the Minnesota Companion Bird Association. In July 1999, she left to cofound MAARS, which quickly grew into the largest exotic bird placement facility in the Midwest.
Through MAARS, she offers parrot behavioral advice in order to improve the lives of these birds in their captive situations. MAARS also accepts abandoned, neglected, and abused parrots and other captive exotic birds for health care, behavioral therapy, and placement in a new home or sanctuary.
Eileen was an active member of Legislative Efforts for Animal Protection from 1997 to 2000, and a member of a coalition that in 2001 helped make aggravated cruelty toward an animal a felony in Minnesota.
In September 2000, she cofounded the Avian Welfare Coalition (AWC), an international organization of experts from a wide variety of fields who work together to promote the welfare of parrots and other exotic birds commonly kept as pets.
Eileen has spoken at many national avian, humane, animal rights, and veterinary conferences, and is known for her educated, common-sense approach to issues affecting the mental and physical health, behavior, care, placement, and well-being of captive parrots.
