A once-blind and severely neglected cockatoo has made history after transforming his painful past into a mission of comfort and healing.
Boo, a 41-year-old umbrella cockatoo, was recently named Pet Partners Pet of the Year, becoming the first bird ever to receive the prestigious honor. He is also one of only a small number of birds certified as therapy animals through the organization.
“When we found out we won, oh my gosh, we were up all night,” Boo’s human companion, Amy Hurst, told PEOPLE.
For Hurst, the award celebrates Boo’s extraordinary journey while also providing an opportunity to show the world that birds can offer powerful emotional support.
Hurst discovered the therapeutic impact of birds during one of the most difficult periods of her own life. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, she began reconsidering the things she still wanted to accomplish and decided to help a friend raise baby birds.
The birds gave her a reason to remain present when she felt like retreating from the world.
“They just kept me present when I just wanted to go to bed,” Hurst said.
Inspired by the connections she witnessed between birds and people, Hurst returned to school at age 58 while undergoing cancer treatment. She studied animal-assisted therapy and eventually became an animal-assisted intervention specialist.
Her growing passion also led her to join several bird clubs, where she met a woman who offered her a cockatoo desperately in need of help.
That bird was Boo.
“He was just horrible looking,” Hurst recalled. “He didn’t have feathers halfway back. He was a mess.”
Boo had reportedly been blind for 11 years and had lost many of his feathers after another bird repeatedly plucked them. He had so little muscle mass that he could no longer perch and was forced to sleep in a dog bed on the floor of his cage.
Despite his condition, Hurst immediately felt a connection with him.
She took Boo home and began nursing him back to health. Later, she learned about a groundbreaking procedure at North Carolina State University’s veterinary school that could potentially restore his vision.
Hurst agreed to the surgery without hesitation.
“He saw us immediately. It worked,” she said.
Even before regaining his sight, Boo showed a remarkable ability to connect with people. He welcomed visitors of all ages and appeared capable of sensing their emotions and adjusting his behavior accordingly.
Boo’s difficult history extended far beyond his blindness.
Before Hurst adopted him, he had allegedly been smuggled illegally into the United States, discovered during a police raid and mistakenly labeled aggressive. He was then kept inside a cage for an entire year.
Yet after everything he had endured, Boo continued seeking affection and human companionship.
Hurst saw parallels between their lives.
“I had been through abuse, I had been through the cancer, I had been through everything,” she said. “It’s just like our stories were intertwined.”
One month after Boo regained his sight, Hurst brought him to Pet Partners for evaluation. The cockatoo passed with a perfect score and received the highest marks possible for a therapy animal.
He was classified as a complex therapy bird.
Since becoming certified in 2025, Boo and Hurst have visited hospitals, schools, senior living communities and therapy programs. They have also worked with people with disabilities and individuals on the autism spectrum.
“Along the way, we have witnessed remarkable moments of connection—children finding confidence, seniors rediscovering joy, and people experiencing comfort during some of the most difficult moments of their lives,” Hurst said.
She believes Boo’s greatest talent is his ability to sense the emotional energy surrounding him.
According to Hurst, Boo knows when to quietly comfort a child experiencing a meltdown and when to engage a senior working to improve hand mobility.
“I have watched children who are nonverbal say ‘Boo,’ because they’re not paying attention to what else is going around,” Hurst said. “They’re just having this connection with this bird, and they’re wanting him to talk.”
She said those moments create connections that are difficult to explain and are partly driven by Boo’s intelligence and emotional awareness.
The impact of Boo’s work inspired Hurst to create the Prism Bird Program, which pairs birds with neurodivergent children and people experiencing emotional or mental health challenges.
“They’re multifaceted and highly intelligent,” Hurst said of birds. “They can read the emotions in the room. They can communicate in a different way.”
She also noted that some birds can live for decades, allowing them to remain with children well into adulthood and provide long-term companionship.
Hurst hopes Boo’s Pet of the Year victory will encourage more people to recognize birds as potential therapy animals and loving companions.
She has watched Boo cuddle with crying children as they wiped tears against his feathers. He has also become especially popular with stroke patients, often snuggling inside a blanket while they gently stroke his feathers during occupational therapy exercises.
“Boo’s story, my story, and the stories of the families transformed through our Prism Bird Program have shown that healing can come from unexpected places,” Hurst said. “We aren’t trying to replace therapy. We are trying to expand what therapy can look like.”