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Jerry, the man who looked after the tagged pet parrot, Jamuel, after it flew into his home on Apr. 11, decided to speak out after facing backlash online.
In a blog post on Medium, Jerry went into lengthy detail to share his side of the story regarding returning Jamuel, a Cinnamon Conure, back to its owners.
Jerry previously declined to comment on the incident with Andrea, Jamuel's owner, but changed his mind and felt he had to "step out now to share".
On Apr. 14, Andrea reached out to Mothership to share that Jerry had asked for compensation and lectured her on how to care for the bird.
"A story of miscommunication and lack of information"
Jerry reached out to Mothership on Apr. 15, 2023, stating that this incident was due to "miscommunication and lack of information".
When it came to the compensation, Jerry wrote that the S$50 was not something they needed; rather, he was asking if there was any intention on Andrea's part to "appreciate our time and effort".
Jerry came up with S$50 as an "off-handed amount" for a cage he found on Carousell. He and his family considered purchasing it as they wanted to adopt a bird soon and would require a proper cage after returning the borrowed one.
Jerry told Mothership that the cage was not donated by a Redditor but was borrowed from someone from Telegram, who offered the cage to him to house Jamuel till his owner was found or till they got their own cage.
The cage was an extra, and Jerry needed to collect the cage from the person at 12am.
"The money thing that was reported, that was [a] miscommunication because [Andrea] wanted to buy the cage from us that wasn't ours," Jerry said.
Jerry was asked if Andrea knew the cage did not belong to him, and he replied that he did not know if she knew.
When Andrea told him that she would collect the cage with the bird, Jerry admitted that he thought she wanted to buy the cage from him, which led to him being confused about the whole situation regarding the compensation and seeking clarification.
Andrea previously shared that she was afraid that she would not be able to get Jamuel back, so she "had no choice but to compensate Jerry in monetary form".
Screenshot provided by Andrea
S$50 compensation
Jerry retorted that he would not hold a bird ransom for S$50.
"If I was a true ransomer, like what people call me, I'd ask for $500, not $50. It's not about the money. And if it's really about this $50, I'd give it back if it wasn't her intention. I don't need the $50."
Jerry confessed that he wished he had rejected the initial S$50 or did not ask for compensation.
"Maybe I shouldn’t be expecting any reward for doing a good deed, but I missed a meeting when the bird flew in, I spent the rest of the night reading countless articles, forums, texting in the [Telegram] chats, literally video called someone with bird experience. I took the bird in when I could have let it go. I made an effort to publicise and find the owner. Made a cage from my shelves to house it for the night. Went down to a kind soul’s place at 12am to borrow a cage (it’s not donated). We try to make sure the bird feels at home, and we slept that night at 3 am, making sure it’s fed and not wounded on its way here."
"My care and love for it is free but my time is not. I missed things for this unexpected event. And I’m not asking for payment for a service. I just found it, and cared for it. She can say no if she has no intention to pay, we asked. I’m cool with it! It just needs to be clear."
The long message
Jerry also detailed his intention behind the seven-paragraph-long message he sent to Andrea in his blog.
Jerry stated that he was "bugged" by the whole process of handing over Jamuel to Andrea.
He felt that Andrea is "technically" not the owner as Andrea's grandfather and the grandfather's helper were the caretakers of the bird.
When it came to handling the bird, Jerry said that Andrea lifted the bird off his shoulder with the bird still clinging onto him and "let out a screech".
Jerry reasoned that he sent the message to clarify "some things" and "share certain knowledge she might not have, since what she know is contrary to what [he] learnt from the kindest of bird lovers in Singapore".
"We were just charged with anger at the interaction and Jamuel's apparent treatment, and I acknowledge some of our points can be put in a nicer way. I take full responsibility for something strongly-worded. I should not have jumped to conclusion[s] with just one encounter and what I saw on the surface."
However, Jerry stated he was "working with limited information" from the interaction when Andrea collected Jamuel.
"We did not see them interact closely with the bird. They could not even provide me the full, full number of the tag because they only have photos of the bird with the first [three] and last [three] digits," he wrote.
Plans to return the compensation
Speaking to Mothership, Jerry expressed that he intends to return the S$50 compensation to Andrea since "it was not [Andrea's] intention to give".
As of Apr. 16, 2023, Jerry has not reached out to Andrea regarding the return of the compensation, Andrea told Mothership.
She shared that she had initially provided him with the amount in cash at his home, as their communication has been through Reddit and Telegram only.
Read Jerry's full story here.
Top photos via Andrea & Jerry