Rio twists his neck towards me and just for a moment we lock eyes through a big glass box. The parrot – a gorgeous blue and gold macaw with moss-green markings on his sloping forehead – has no idea of the nationwide furore his presence has set off.
Just yesterday, footage of Rio in his new home – a glass box in the centre of a brand new “luxury dining and shisha experience” – was shared by the Instagram account ‘Vegan Manchester’. Within less than 12 hours, the RSPCA received a flood of complaints. Local businesses branded his new home “barbaric”, Manchester City Council was forced to clarify online that the parrot lives in Salford, a petition to “save” Rio received over 10,000 signatures and, of course, we were asked to investigate.
The story, we discovered, involves the Manchester Pets and Aquatics shop, a smiling selfie with the RSPCA, and two conflicting claims: one suggesting that Rio is the long-term, treasured family pet of the owner of Gardens, the other that he was purchased only a few weeks before the restaurant opened.
So: what’s the true story behind Salford’s Shisha Bar Parrot? And crucially, what fate is in store for him now? We got the answers.
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