Season 3 of "The Voice" is still a few months away from premiering, but the show's already got a bit of controversy going on thanks to Cee Lo Green's decision to switch out his season 1 cat Purrfect for a pink Moluccan cockatoo named Lady
As I told you yesterday, Cee Lo has decided to give up Purrfect, the cat he had on the show with him last season, in favor of a pink cockatoo named Lady. Now bird activists (yes, bird activists is apparently a thing) around the country have their tail feathers in a ruffle over Cee Lo's choice of pets.
According to TMZ, reps from the animal rights organization Born Free tell the website that Moluccan cockatoos make terrible pets and are endangered, two good reasons to NOT use one on a T.V. show, but they go on to say that the cockatoos tend to self-mutilate when stressed.
"Moluccan cockatoos are beautiful, intelligent animals but they are very challenging to care for especially in the long term, and are prone to considerable welfare problems," Monica Engrebretson -- a rep for Born Free, tells TMZ. "Many Moluccan cockatoos develop self-destructive behavior including feather plucking and self mutilation not known to occur in the wild."
"Many parrot rescues are already filled to capacity with moluccans and other large parrots. I encourage “The Voice” to reconsider featuring a moluccan cockatoo or any bird as a 'pet' on the show and instead promote a more appropriate companion animal such as a dog. Even better, they could feature a rescue dog or a dog in need of a home."
She adds, "I want to add that I am a huge fan of Cee-Lo and I am glad that he appears to be an animal lover."
I can definitely see where Born Free is coming from considering how fans tend to treat animals that are in fashion -- just think about all the chihuahuas abandoned to shelters once Paris Hilton quit packing one around in her purse -- and who wants a bunch of fans going out and getting one of these endangered birds just because they see them on T.V.?
I can also see how "The Voice" could use this as a learning experience to help raise awareness of a beautiful endangered bird. I don't think I had ever seen Cee Lo Green bring Purrfect out in front of the live audience so it's probably a lot less stressful than the animal rights group is thinking it will be. Maybe there will be a happy medium.
One thing's for sure, no one from The Voice is talking right now. TMZ reached out to Cee Lo and never heard back.
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