I love animals. This probably doesn’t come as a surprise given my profession and the menagerie of critters I’ve adopted over the years. But there’s a special boy who now has a permanent place in my heart: Joey.

This beautiful ring-necked dove made his way to our shelter earlier in the summer when a good Samaritan found him wandering the city. Though doves and pigeons are close cousins, he was clearly not made for the street life, so his rescuer brought him into us for re-homing.

Joey was an instant hit among staff and volunteers. Incredibly social, affectionate, and frankly, a huge flirt, he soon captured the hearts of all who met him. Including me. After seeing him spend a few weeks up in our small animals room, I decided the time had come to make him an office foster. So Joey moved in!

One of the best things about having office fosters is exposing people to species of animals they normally wouldn’t have a chance to encounter. Most people have some vague concept of the intelligence and sociability of birds, but have not experienced it first-hand. Joey was the one to change all of that. His overtly friendly disposition, combined with his handle-ability, made a believer out of even the most hesitant of people.

Joey spent six weeks cooing, snuggling, and pooping his way around my space. Our daily routine went something like this: I come in and immediately feed and water all the office fosters. Joey spends these 15 minutes singing to me atop the bookcase. Once everyone was fed, the cleaning could begin. At this point Joey would take to rummaging my sweeping piles along the floor, right beside whichever office rabbit I was fostering at the time. Finally, his favorite part of the day would begin: desk time. There was rarely a moment in my work day that I wouldn’t find him either sitting on my computer monitor or hunkered down beside my key board. In the moments he wasn’t standing watch on my desk, he’d be busy perching a top my head, or socializing with the many visitors who would be making their rounds through our department. One of our favorite Joey quirks was the full bellied cackle he’d cry when he’d perch upon an office guest. To the unsuspecting, it was a bit alarming, but to those of us who knew him, we thought of it as the cuddling battle cry.

If not for the spunk of our two office cats, I’m sure that Joey wouldn’t have been a temporary fixture, but a permanent member of our team. But alas, for his own safety the team decided that he’d be better off in a feline-free home. He’d also make it into our history books as our first-ever bird adoption. Just 10 days after his picture appeared on our website, a lovely mother and daughter duo came in to meet him, and fell in love. Our sweet Joey has now been in his new home for a week and we couldn’t be happier for him and his new owners.

In ode to my fine-feathered friend, here’s a peek at our daily sing-songs and chit-chats. Best of luck to you beautiful boy!