Our months-long search for the most paw-sitivley perfect pet in Reading is over.
Hundreds of readers nominated or voted for an animal after we launched our competition in April, National Pet Month.
The public narrowed down dozens of turtles, birds, dogs and cats to the top ten, before deciding that the must squawksome pet is… Cairo and Missy the free flying parrots.
Owner Adam, 34, from Tilehurst, said he wanted to thank everyone who voted for the birds, which residents of the area will recognize – even if only as a blur of blue and gold.
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“It is nice that they trust us and can go out flying but still come back to us, so they’ve got the best of both worlds.”
“Missy is cheeky and naughty, a non-stop talker sometimes. Cairo: When he’s indoors he seems all quiet but once he’s out he’s like a changed bird. He loves flying in any weather.”
The macaws pipped seven-ear-old Rolo, from Tilehurst, and one-year-old Italian whippet Cairo, from Woodley, who came in second and third place respectively.
Missy and Cairo were trained by Adam and his brother to fly outdoors in a local park and now, both aged five, they soar as far as Oxfordshire.
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The pair regularly rack up twenty miles a day, but Adam always knows their location thanks to a tracking app.
“The longest they went was Burford in Oxfordshire on a bank holiday weekend and then the public were trying to get them down from a tree with nuts and crisps and whatever, but they still wouldn’t budge,” said Adam.
“They heard us and they came flying straight down to us.”
He continued: “Some people say they shouldn’t be out and about but I would rather them have that freedom then being stuck in a cage and becoming depressed.
“They’re quite sensitive. They become depressed and they start plucking their feathers. So I’d rather they enjoyed their life, rather than a long caged life.”
At home, Cairo likes to chill in his cage while Missy takes up a spot in the living room, presumably watching the latest Attenborough documentary.
The parrots share the well-deserved title Reading Chronicle Perfect Pet 2022, though they will have to decide between them who gets the £50 voucher.
The competition was a roaring success, with everything from tiny chihuahuas to Great Danes, and moggies to Bengals sent in to the Chronicle.
Bunnies and even a snail featured on our pages during May, each vying for votes from the public before polls closed on June 6.
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