08/15/2026
Thank you to everyone who has reached out to share their love regarding Bobber. Everything feels surreal and like I don’t know what to do next, but receiving your comfort has filled these confounding moments, helping me gather my footing.
We won’t be holding a memorial for Bobber at this time. To be honest, I have been quite overwhelmed for some time with running things here and I don’t have the bandwidth to put something like that together at this time. I think Bobber understands it’s business as usual. He was celebrated every day he was alive and I continue to talk about him with the flock as we make sense of this together.
If you would like to make a contribution in honor of his memory, we would love for you to share any memories you have of him.
Donations in his memory are deeply appreciated, as well as volunteers for helping to clean aviary nest boxes.
Thank you.
PayPal.com/fundraiser/charity/4735967
https://gofund.me/e394e4562
Our Birth Story:
Bobber’s Pigeon Sanctuary is unlike traditional pigeon rescues, which often focus on rehabilitation and placement. We provide lifelong care to nearly 70 pigeons, recognizing that some animals benefit from permanent stability rather than repeated transitions. Our primary mission is lifelong sanctuary for rescued pigeons, while our broader vision is rooted in ecotherapy—cultivating reciprocal relationships between people and the natural world through compassionate interactions with rescued pigeons.
I work full time as a children’s trauma therapist, and it was that work that first introduced me to the bird who inspired this sanctuary. I met Bobber in 2015 when I was doing a home-visit to a preschool. Bobber was a temporary class pet with an injured wing. I remember hearing an unusual sound in the back of the room and asking the teacher, “what is that dinosaur noise?!” She replied, “oh! That’s Bobber!” It was love at first sight. His orange dinosaur eyes, mermaid feathers, and dragon toenails pulled me in. The teacher indicated she was looking to rehome him, and I resolutely volunteered. In my search to find Bobber a companion I discovered Great Lakes Pigeon Rescue and the world of exploited pigeons. Chava Sonnier coordinated our adoption with Bandit, Bobber’s first wife. This transpired into a passion to help more exploited birds, and in 2020 I broke ground on “Bobber Dream House”- our outdoor aviary.
During this time, I often talked about the pigeons with children I was working with who had also experienced trauma and loss, particularly those in foster care. Bobber became the face of my therapeutic work, allowing children to explore difficult emotions through the story of a bird, and his resilient friends, who had overcome hardships. The road from trauma and loss to healing, safety, and family can feel impossible to these children, but if the pigeons could do it then perhaps they could find hope to do so as well.
