Karen complains to the RSPCA about a neighbour’s mistreated cockatoo – but she made a huge mistake

A man was left shocked after receiving a call from the RSPCA for supposedly ‘mistreating’ his ‘pet’ cockatoo.

The phone call was made on a hot day in Western Australia and an RSPCA spokesperson contacted the resident about ‘leaving his pet bird in a cage without water in the heat’.

The organisation was alerted by a concerned neighbour who could see a caged bird from their home – but she failed to recognise that the pet was merely a garden decoration and not real.

‘Thank you to the “Karen” who made a complaint to the RSPCA about us leaving our Cockatoo in a cage in our front garden without water on a hot day!’ the man shared in a social media post.

‘Obviously the lack of movement of the bird, the cage being open, and rust on the metal creature were not enough signs that it wasn’t real!’

The man also posted two photos of his cockatoo figurine which clearly showed an open cage and faux metal animal. 

However, Western Australia’s RSPCA commented on the post in defense of the man’s concerned neighbour.

‘We would always rather receive a report and have it turn out to be a false alarm, than to not receive one at all and have an animal suffer,’ a spokesperson wrote.

‘These cases of mistaken identity are very few and far between.’

‘And to be honest, considering the amount of heartbreaking things we do see, this offers a bit of light relief.’

The RSPCA was alerted by a concerned neighbour who could see a caged bird from their home – but she failed to recognise that the bird was merely a garden decoration and not a real animal

A few chastised the man for calling his neighbour a ‘Karen’ and feeling annoyed.

‘At least it shows they care and have a good heart, and would report animal cruelty if they ever came across it.’ 

‘I get how the mistake can be made but if it was me, I wouldn’t be mad at all I’d be glad there was someone out there who cared!’

Another added, ‘Not a Karen in my opinion. Just someone trying to do the right thing for a bird. I’m glad she was mistaken.’ 

Some shared similar cases of mistaken identity.

‘I called a snake catcher out once as I thought there was a big snake in my back garden, turned out it was a dressing gown cord that had blown off the washing line.’

‘My beautiful Nana would feed the cockatoo that lived in the tree across the road from her,’ a woman began. 

‘She’d walk across and put seed down and talk to it … until my Dad came for a visit and told her it was a white plastic bag stuck in the tree!’