Boycott PETCO!

[sujo1973]

Please DO NOT Buy from PETCO! Check out this link-it's awful!
http://www.petcocruelty.com/index.asp

[blueroseaviary]

Just don't click on the link to donate to PETA.

[Monica]

Not all Petco's are cruel to animals. There are some who take care of their animals exceptionally well... However, Petno is run by PETA, and I am, personally, against PETA.

[Casa Amazona]

In defense of Petco, although I HATE the way birds are kept in these large stores, I saw something a few weeks ago that gave me a measure of peace about at least the local store. When I had Kiwi at the vet there was a Petco employee with a cockatiel in a cage. She told me he had a broken leg and was back for a check-up. His little leg was bandaged, but he looked pretty spry other than that. I figured that if they were willing to pay a (very good) avian vet as well as their employee's time to take care of a little cockatiel they can't be all bad. They couldn't have made a profit on the bird, but he got good care anyway.

[blueroseaviary]

The birds and other animals at my local store are reasonably well taken care of. Honestly, my only problem with Petco is that they will sell unweaned birds. But, my local store usually does not have unweaned birds there. One time they had a Too that was being hand fed but she was fully weaned before they sold her. I try to go in about once a week just to check and see how the birds are doing, but lately it has been every other week.

[NapaBrandon]

the petco here in napa, has really friendly people, and they seem to have the best interest of the animals at heart, i go there often, and the animals have always seemed happy and alert.

[Lora, Archer, & Kira]

I used to really enjoy going to the Petco near me when I lived in Seattle... that was when the store was new though. I loved their dedicated bird room, but I always thought the cages were far too small for the larger birds they had there.

I went there back in October, and saw Kira. She was frightened, but so beautiful. The "bird guy" - as the others referred to him - knew nothing about her. He claimed that she had only been there a couple weeks. I came to find out from the manager that she had been there for 6 months. The "bird guy" couldn't even take her out of the cage... he had to take the front of the cage off, and I told him I would get her myself. She was terrified, and I can't blame her, I saw the way he grabbed at her with one hand, and spoke harshly at her. I was able to pick her up fairly easily, and she calmed down for me. I wasn't sure I wanted to buy a "Petco bird", but at the same time, I couldn't just leave her there.

I went home that night, and couldn't stop thinking about her, even with Archer up against my cheek, eating pellets from the dish by my computer.

My fiance and I returned a few days later, and she was still there. It took awhile to find anyone to help us, as usual, and the other manager finally came to assist. He brought out that box they give you to take home live animals. I told him right away that I would take her out of the cage and put her in the box. He didn't care, but watched me closely to make sure I wasn't going to steal the bird. He didn't ask me if I knew how to care for her, nor did he ask me any other questions a responsible person would have asked a potential new bird owner. I told him that the other manager said she had some kind of certificate that showed the bird's hatch date on it. He sighed, gave me a look that said "do you really need it?", and went to go look for it. He came back a few minutes later with a certificate, but it did not match Kira's band number. I sent the manager to get the right one, and told him which band number to look for. So, either they neglected to give these certificates to the other owners of these birds, or the other bird(s) died while in their care. I prefer to think about the first option.

The certificate did indeed have her hatch date on it, and it certified that she was vaccinated for avian polyoma disease by some place in Oregon. The only other question the manager had for me was "Do you have a Petco Pals card?" Admittedly, I do. I've had it for years, doesn't get much use. He thought I'd be delighted to hear that having the card saved me $25 on Kira. It wasn't about the money, but I didn't expect him to get it. I took her home, and my fiance took care of her (I had to work that day). She was actually supposed to be his bird - she was calmer than Archer.

Kira is still very hand shy today, for obvious reasons. She has made tremendous progress while in my care. She steps up (well, hops up is more like it), she has begun to whistle, and she adores Archer. She used to be like glue at his side, but has become more independant. I am proud of her every day.

Since then, I have been back to that Petco once. They have removed all of the "large" bird cages. I asked the "bird guy" about it, and he said that anything bigger than a cockatiel was too hard to sell. Well, I'm glad this store no longer sells larger birds, but they quit doing it for the wrong reasons.