Neglective Pet Store.. Suggestions?

[Moobu]

In the city that I live in there is a pet store called Pet Land. This chain of stores is particularly notorious for purchasing "puppy mill" puppies as well as taking as minimal care of their animals as possible. They cut so many corners in what is presumably "budgeting" that I was compelled to actually take pictures of the conditions and try and rescue these birds. The problem is the "minimal care" part. I'm not sure I have efficient evidence to build a case against the store.

 

They have 1 Scarlet Macaw, (might be a ruby i don't remember)2 Umbrella Cockatoos, 2 Cockatiels, 5 Sun Conures, (4 of which are freshly hatched) 2 African Greys, (Hatched this past July 4th), 1 Green Capped Amazon?, and probably 50 assorted parakeets.

 

 

-The Macaw-

To start off the Macaw is in a large acrylic cube with a metal grate on top. It looks sufficient in size. The issue is the ONLY perch is a medium sized plastic pyramid pipe type construction that is only about 6 inches high. They put this on 4 bowls to act as boosters to raise the maximum height this bird can perch to about 8 inches off of the floor. His food and water dishes are shoved in opposite corners on the floor where he can easily track and kick droppings into them as he walks across the floor to get to them. He also has a single shredded and disgusting looking toy that I would guess was recycled from another bird years ago.

 

He frequently hangs from the top of the cage since those are the only bars available to grasp. This means he spends a vast majority of his day totally inverted. He will also hang down and his tail feathers will brush across the clear wall and leave very noticeable steaks of poop where ever it contacts. They claim he gets out about once a week but I find that hard to believe as I stop in there frequently to check on conditions and have never once seen him out. I have heard plenty of employee complaints about taking him out because he is so hard to put away though!

 

Umbi Cockatoos

There are two of these magnificent birds in a cage slightly larger than what is needed for 1 in my opinion. One is very active and inquisitive and the second one is very shy and timid towards people. They use a kind of stuffing like bedding that looks like its made out of old sheets or something to line the cage. This is the only cage I have ever seen this bedding in at this establishment. The catch is there is about a 4 inch layer of seeds covering at least half of the entire bottom at all times. One of the managers told me this is only because every time they give them food in the morning they empty the entire contents of the bowl into the bottom then pick it up and eat it throughout the day. Two problems I see is there is NO WAY they are emptying out what looks like half a bag of food in one serving and the grate is about 5 inches higher than the bottom making it impossible for them to reach the food.

 

This cage has exactly 2 intersecting perches and NO TOYS in it. I have also noticed occasionally their water will be so filthy and grimy it reminds me of gravy. One of the birds likes to dip their seeds before eating. I also know from asking employees that they have been in these conditions for at least 3 years. There is also a photo of the inquisitive too's leg which looks to me like the start of feather plucking.

 

Cockatiels

Not much to be said, the cage is small, they have room for one of them to open wings to a full spread if they were in the middle of the cage. If I remember right there was a small plastic toy that didn't see much use but I could be wrong about there being one.

 

Sun Conures

There are 2 cube containers for these birds. A group of 4 that came in last year and only 1 remains in his own cube, and a few cubes down a group of 4 babies brought in about a week ago. They all have similar living conditions to the macaw. They at least have a tall enough plastic pipe structure to get them off of the ground. The single conure has poop on his lower half and his food and water are again on the ground in the corners ready to catch any and everything that falls in. The cube area of 4 conures is set up identical except all the birds are pooping on each other because 2 will stay up top when 2 go down to eat or forage or find SOME WAY to try and entertain themselves and get pooped on.

 

African Greys

These little cuties just arrived about a week ago at the same time as the new batch of Sun Conures. They are only about 3 months old, wings are fully clipped, they are not done being weaned as the manager is still preforming these duties. They have a male and a female. Both are congos. These birds have absolutely NOTHING in their acrylic cubicle. Not a single toy or perch. They do have a dish of water sitting on the ground in the corner. The first day I was in I noticed the male CAG was throwing up. The manager told me not to worry about it because he just overfed him a little bit. I have no experience weaning birds but that sounds very fishy to me.

I also handled the female for a little bit, she isn't very accepting of hands yet and hasn't been taught to step up. The excuse the pet store gave me for her being hard to handle was that she didn't know how to perch yet. She then walked over to the bird and picked her up from a PERCH that she was PERCHING on behind the counter. She seemed to be doing okay other than she had droppings on her lower half.

 

Blue Capped Amazon

I don't remember this birds exact breed but I do know that it is an amazon. The bird seems to be in a cage too small for it as it is very narrow and tall or pillar shaped. Standard routines apply here with dirty cage bottom, dirty water depending on the day for severity, and absolutely nothing to stimulate this birds mind.

 

Parakeets

The largest bin of birds with a large multiplex pipe construct for a perch with multiple toys. Overall they look to be the best maintained other than their water and food gets contaminated because of the insistence of putting food and water dishes on the bottom of the container in the corners. Also some birds get pooped on being under the perch. Finally they do an extensive amount of foraging through their droppings.

 

Misc.

Just making this little section to describe the cube containers better. It is a medium sized bin lined with a beady pellet type of bed lining. The boxes are probably about 1.5 foot by 1.5 foot maybe 2x2. I just ran and grabbed my cell phone at the end of typing this. I'll work on uploading these photos to help paint the picture better.

 

Post edited by: Moobu, at: 2009/09/17 15:38

 

Post edited by: Moobu, at: 2009/09/17 15:47<br><br>Post edited by: Moobu, at: 2009/09/17 15:49

[danmcq]

I must say, this is a well written document on the housing and conditions of that pet store.

 

I sounds fairly similar to the Petsmart I use to purchase items for all my critters. I do feel the same as you in regards, the "Bird Mills" they come from.

 

The problem with pet store birds in a franchised large chain. Is they are there to make money. To do this, they must put the least effort by law and dictated by corporate policies on how much time each bird gets. Believe me, the time is not sufficient to social or train these young birds at all. Then to top things off, they are in those cubes getting poked at by kids, plastic knocked on etc. This produces a bird that views people as a threat and something they learn to hate if left in those conditions long enough.

 

I always stop by the caged Parrots and just smile, talk in a high voice and SLOWLY move my hand up to see if they have any desire whatsoever to interact a little. Most display obvious body language of fear and they back away. However, some have come to recognize me over time and actually run up to the front of the cage and we interact for a while.

 

I wish I could purchase them all, but of course thats impossible and I leave feeling sad for them. I know how you feel and and applaud your concern.

 

It will be interesting to see the photos and hear of any outcome or feedback you will receive from the authorities you contact.

 

Thanks for posting this and karma to you.

[jessdecutie18]

We also have a PetLand... and it's the exact same type of senario I'm afraid. It always makes me a little sad. They have a Cocatoo in there that is completely clipped and in a big raised cube... One small perch and one small toy... and all the workers say he is totally evil and they can't touch him. Well after talking to him softly and going slow with him and not minding a couple nips, he got on my hand and seemed glad for the attention. People don't understand that this bird seems 'evil' because he gets no love and attention, no real toys, nothing. I hate it when people blame the birds...

 

They also have a new batch of Sun Conures and that's the worst... seeing those babies with nothing in their cube, no interactions at all... wishing so bad I could adopt them all... I'm just hoping they are sold before long.

 

Unfortunately we cannot save every pet store bird... at least we can take the very best care of the ones we have and give them a wonderful home.

 

I love my Yoshi <3

[Greywings]

The Pet land store near me closed last year after only being open for about 1 year. I had spotted a hand fed Macaw baby fully feathered but not matured with an empty crop sitting on the floor of his cage doing the baby bird hungry cry when I pointed it out that the bird needed feeding they told me he was on a once a day feeding. This baby was shaking and unable to perch, I told them to feed him & get him to the Vet now! They blew me off so I went home and looked up corporates address and phone# told them that they were going to loose their investment for the price of a few additional feedings and how wasteful that was of both life and money. I also called my friend from the other side of town who came down with her Macaw on hand to walk through the store get their attention and discuss the needs of that baby. They did get a Vet to look at the bird and reccomended more freq. feedings calling the bird a slow developer. They closed about one month later. So I suggest expressing your concerns politely as a bird owner your self with concerns as to the birds health & safety. Good luck and let us know what happens and if you get a reply.

[Joolesgreyuk]

This is an excellent post and karma to you for having the presence of mind to photograph these conditions. I'm afraid though that as Dan says they are probably marginally within the confines of the law.

 

I bought Beau from a chain pet store here in the UK "The Ark", I'm not sure if they are nationwide or if all the branches are in and around the city I live in, I think there are at least 4 here. I have to say that not all pet stores are like the one you discribe, I pay tribute to Beau's breeder as Beau came to me a well-adjusted parrot, very tame and cuddly with no fear - that came as he got a little older. I know the girls in the store loved him and missed him after I brought him home. I saw birds being cleaned out when I was in the shop and Beau was taken out daily also he was in a large cage. Sadly not all pet stores are like Beau's. It is so sad that birds (or any animal for that matter) are treated like meat and are just the means to ££$$.

[Dave007]

The only way to deal with any special type of problem/problems that's being talked about in this thread is to notify

 

PETA.com

 

They will give you instructions on what to do in order for them to get involved willl animal abuse in any type of Petstore chain.

 

They were involved in a huge campaign in 2007 against Petsmart and on the east coast, Petsmart is not allowed to sell anything larger than cockatiels.

 

PETA can provide specific details about what can or cannot be done concerning abuse.

I will say that if PETA does get involved, whatever pet chains they look into will also include all other animals that are sold there.

 

So far , the pictures you've provided don't even come close to any animal abuse taking place.

 

Small cages---common practice

No toys-----common practice

Wings clipped----common practice

Aggressive chicks---common practice

Not enough perches---common practice

Seed covering bottom of cages----common practice

Poor quality birds and other animals being bought from brokers who buy from mills----common practice

Cages not perfectly clean at all times---common practice.

Water bowls that aren't perfectly clean at all times---common practice

More birds in cages than you think should be in those cages----common practice

 

Vets can only be involved if a large disease is present and visible on different species.

[Luvparrots]

This is very disturbing. I can't wait to hear what the authorities you contact say. Please keep us posted. Good luck on your quest.

[she]

This is a well thought out post,well done.I have a pets at home store.close to me formaly petsmart,after complaints and the bird flu problems we had hear a few years ago,they now do not sell any birds,only small mammals and rodents.

[JillyBeanz]

In the UK there is actually a law for people keeping parrots (and I mean a proper, police abiding law) and this also runs into pet shops (none of which I know sell anything bigger than a cockatiel).

 

It's run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) so I think our laws over here are more strict in the care of parrots as a whole.

 

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?blobcol=urlblob&blobheader=application/pdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=RSPCABlob&blobwhere=1212581015126&ssbinary=true

 

Good luck - I hope you are able to make a difference.

[Moobu]

Well I turned the store in question into PETA. I gave them a link to this exact thread since I figured it is all put together already and easy for them to read. We'll see what comes of it. I hope I am left in the information loop as to what steps are taken and how I can help via more covert spy photos.