What to do about care of birds in pet store

[stepht25]

We live in a pretty small town. Our local pet store is not a place I go to often. I quit buying anything from them long ago. I had been thinking about stopping by for awhile and finally went a few nights ago. (curiosity gets the best of me I suppose) Anyway - I went back to the small area of the store where they keep the bird things and birds. I stopped first at the supplies to see what kind of food they were carrying. They had about 6 bags of tiel sized Zupreem fruit blend pellets - the bags all had a very thick layer of dust on them. So did all the toys they had. I went around to where the birds are and the first one to catch my attention was a cute little blue parrotlet. (I was seriously considering getting a parrotlet before I fell for the conures) He was in a very small cage (probably the ones pet stores sell as single parakeet cages - not that they're even big enough for that) He had 1 wooden dowel perch, 1 acrylic looking perch and1 toy (that had so much poop on it that I wouldn't even try to clean it - I would just throw it away!) a food and water dish. His food dish had seeds and the Zupreem pellets mixed in it, his water was pooped in and looked slimy. (I have birds that poop in their water dish too - but they don't get slimy looking if you change them at least 1x a day!) The sign on his cage said you could buy the bird, cage, perch, toy and 2lbs. of food for $488 ($388 for bird alone). They also had 3 lovebirds in maybe a single sized cockatiel cage together - maybe 3 wooden dowel perches in that cage. 2 cockatiels in a cage together (that cage size was a little better) but just 2 dowel perches, lots of finches and a few doves. I think the parrotlet was the only one with a toy in his cage. The owner asked me which bird he could box up for me and Ijust told him none let my daughter and her friend finish looking at the toher animals and we left. I called our local "animal authorities" and was told as long as the birds had access to food, water and were in cages - there was nothing they could/would do. They seemed very not interested and annoyed that I was taking up their time. I am not a person who likes confrontation and didn't feel I could open my mouth in the pet store - afraid I would get more mad and end up just making the guy mad which wouldn't have helped the poor birds any. Should I try writing a letter to him about what I saw and print off info, from the net about proper cage size etc. for the birds he had there? That poor little parrotlet was SO adorable. He came right to the front of the cage when I talked to him. But there's no way I have $388 to buy him and even if I did - not sure that I would. I hate giving places like that money so they can go buy more. They had a sun conure in there once - he was 2 yrs. old, I guess his owners sold him to the shop. They sold him for $600 in a cockatiel sized cage. Sad thing is - he did sell - either to someone who impulsed bought him not having a clue - or to someone who did know what a rip off the price was but felt sorry for the poor bird.
Anyway. It's been bothering me ever since we went there and I'm just not sure what to do exactly - but I hate not doing anything.

[kensbuns]

Call the local SPCA and report them, write them a letter with what you found wrong and what they need to do to fix it!!

[kateBird]

Originally Posted by stepht25

His food dish had seeds and the Zupreem pellets mixed in it, his water was pooped in and looked slimy. (I have birds that poop in their water dish too - but they don't get slimy looking if you change them at least 1x a day!)

that's sad that your local animal authorities call slimy water actual drinking water. ugh. do you have any other bird people in your area that you know that can also call in a complaint to those animal authorities? maybe if enough call to complain, they will at least be forced to check things out for themselves.

[birdsnthings]

I would have thought a call in concern for the water dish alone would be enough to investigate conditions. Hmmmm......
With cage sizes that is a different matter. The USDA regulates cage sizes and the store may not have been doing anything wrong in that sense unless there are stricter local laws pertaining to that issue.
Alice

[raddaughter]

I have a very similar problem in our local PetLand. Except, they have 'cages' (if that's what you would even call them) made of plexi glass on 4 sides, and no roof. The things are low enough so kids can go a swat their hands around in them and scare the poor birds to death! They keep the budgies (rough guess, but probably 25-50) and tiels (probably 25- 30) all together in one of thise! They have 1 or two large birds kept in the same kind of cage, and it is SO sad!
I went in once and they had a grey. I asked if I could hold it, and the guy said, He's a bad biter, I wouldn't go near him. Well, I went right up and said "step up" and what do you know, the bird stepped right up on my hand no problem. It was sad to see the bird in that state. Inapropriate seed, dirty water, 1 smooth PVC (not the kind you get on playstands, the ones they use in constrution) and no toys. I wanted to buy the bird SO bad just to get it out. I don't support those stores and cry everytime I walk out and have to know that people do buy them and support their business! It is so sad...

[gbird]

That's one of the main reasons I quit Petco. I couldn't stand arguing with the manager about what the birds needed. I also got tired of buying toys & treats for the birds & Ferrets when we were out, out of my own pocket, and getting a "thanks" from the manager, instead of "thanx, we'll reimburse you" I got Pita out, and thank God Bee bought the other little Sun, her Bella. There was a Quaker there that I loved, but I can't do more than one bird. I made a couple of people promise me that they would take care of the birds. I haven't been back. I will never work at another pet store again.

Although I must say the Petsmart near me is pretty nice. Everytime I go there there is fresh food, lots of toys, veggies, fruits, grass, little huts for the finches, and its clean. The Parakets always look happy and are playing, as with the other birds. They don't have any big parrots. I'm sure not all pet stores are bad, but I say if you don't have the staff to give the parrots what they need, then don't carry them.

[stepht25]

I talked to a friend of mine that runs a good pet store in one of the other towns close to us. She has a friend that is one of the local animal authorities in her town. She said she would give her a call and ask her to put in a call to our animal authorities and ask them to check up on the birds. She said sometimes it helps to have someone with a little more authority to make a call and suggest they check it out. I think the main problem with our local animal authorities is that there 2 of them. They're in charge of running the VERY small animal shelter in town and they're seriously over run, over worked and under payed. I don't think they can keep up with the work load so unless it's a serious case of abuse or neglect - it just isn't considered a priority. I've been told they keep animals at the shelter for 14 days and then put them down. I know every year it seems they have a HUGE outbreak of Parvo and for several weeks straight they have a note posted on the door that all animals are being put down becasue of Parvo and no animals are being taken in. Last time I checked pretty much anyone could walk in off the streets and asopt a dog or cat for $12. You sign a paper saying you'll get it vet care and get it fixed and they never follow up to see if it's done and they don't check any of your references. I hope their policies have changed - but I kind of doubt they have. But hopfully they'll at least check on the birds and tell the guy he needs to keep their water clean. I keep hoping he'll go bankrupt and go out of business soon. (he's owned the store for almost a year now)