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Our Feathered Friends don’t belong in Pet Shops Audrey Sween Have you ever walked into a pet store and happen to see birds without toys, companions, or even a food bowl with the wrong food? I’m sure most of you don’t realize when you see this, because many think it’s normal. These birds are extremely unhappy. If birds pull their own feathers out, they are not “sick”, they don’t have a skin problem, and they are depressed to the point of self destruction. One story that broke my heart was about a Macaw whose owner bought him for looks, to make his office have a more tropical vibe. That poor macaw stayed at his owner’s workplace with no toys or friends, and when it was the weekend where no one worked, he left the macaw in the office with the lights out for 3 days. By a few years, the poor macaw plucked out so many feathers, he eventually had a hole in his own chest. Self mutilation is very common in birds, especially if they are not cared for properly. I saw an example of this when I went to a local pet store recently to get my birds some toys. What I saw was very sad, I found two lovebirds, one has plucked many chest feathers out, and the other bird was its mate. They only have each other, with no toys and very limited food. I asked the pet store worker why they don’t have any toys. She gave me a quick reply “Its mating season”, I believe that is completely wrong reason not to give birds toys, and I deemed this as a lame excuse. Imagine being stuck behind bars with your prison mate with no entertainment and the same food every single day. This sounds a lot like prison, only criminals go to prison. I don’t think the adorable little lovebirds should be punished the same way. As I walk from cage to cage more birds have very few toys. Her pet store is full of bird toys, I don’t find it difficult just to take a few and give the little bird more reasons to live. I do realize that when people go to pet stores they expect “Caged animals” and they often compare birds to pet rats and other animals that have a low life expectancy. They don’t realize that many birds live for more than 25 years. Many people think that they can take home birds and easily give them away, as if these long lived birds were anything like a common hamster. Birds are emotionally sensitive, they don’t adapt well to changing environments, and that their owners might very well be ruining the bird’s life unknowingly. Many parrots are very expensive and hard to get but some parrots like cockatiels are very cheap. When it comes to any bird, cheaper is not better. Cockatiels range from $25 for untamed to $150 for hand raised youngsters. Some people buy cockatiels without knowing their temperament or even if they are tame. Others are willing to spend a lot of money for a bird even if they don’t know anything about it. Some birds that were not hand raised cannot be tamed, and people will buy them thinking the bird will change; eventually the owners are very discouraged. Usually the bird gets re-homed over and over to the point that it becomes emotionally scarred. This can also be a hassle for the owner because they had no idea what to expect. They could have avoided the situation of owning a “problem bird” if they had more history about the bird or even if they had a little more of an idea how to treat it. I hear this story frequently, someone saying out loud “once I had a cockatiel, but I had to give it away because he bites”. I bet they didn’t know that they are the cause of the cockatiel biting. Cockatiels are very social and long lived, biting is only out of fear, trust is gained over time. Some owners are not patient enough to be able to gain the trust of the cockatiel, and simply try to give it away. These types of problems can be avoided. I don’t think pet stores should sell birds because their workers can’t give enough attention to the birds to keep them happy. I think the only place that should sell birds is designated bird specialty stores and bird breeders. This rule would save unknowing naive customers from making mistakes by buying a bird they couldn’t care for. This would also protect the birds as well and the breeders would make sure their birds would go to a happy home. I think pet enthusiasts should take parrots more seriously because they live longer and are smarter than the average dog. I think parrots should have come with adoption papers, some type of system or questionnaire to prevent spur of the moment buyers. Most states are stricter than others, and some are downright careless. Once in Florida I went into a flea market and found a whole pet area. This place sold many unusual animals like alligators, armadillos, sugar gliders, many birds and snakes, and lastly a Kookaburra. A Kookaburra is an Australian bird that has a bird call that sounds like a hysterical laugh, it also eats rodents, but it definitely did not belong in that flea market. If you think that is odd, Owls are being sold all over the United States to fanatic Harry Potter fans. They even have a sanctuary dedicated to rescuing the owls that were abandoned from the Harry Potter craze. This problem is becoming more urgent for me because I constantly see unhappy birds everywhere. As well as that, there are a whole lot of people trying to give away their birds on craigslist and other internet resources. Failing to fix this will cause more problems. The bird rescues and adoption centers are starting to fill up. I want people to thoroughly think out before adopting or buying birds, much like adopting a child. I want people to have the mentality of keeping their bird till their bird grows old and dies of natural causes. Often enough, older people try to adopt birds without realizing that the young bird will outlive them. Large parrots like macaws and cockatoos can live 35 to 45 years. The first step I would take would be to make it illegal for mainstream pet stores (like Petco and Petsmart) to sell parrot bird species. The pet stores do not give nearly enough attention to birds because workers do not know the right way to handle and treat them. In addition to that, many pet store workers can sell those birds to anyone without knowing what the bird requires. Often new owners get no advice on how to take care of their bird they just bought. Selling birds should be left to the professionals who can educate their potential buyers and question them to see if they match the criteria to keep a parrot. If someone really wants to own a parrot they would have to contact a breeder, make an appointment to speak with the professional. During that appointment the breeder would ask specific questions. Professionals should require questions about where they live; apartment, house, etc. Then they should also ask their potential buyers if they have children, what their age is, if they have any other pets that could harm the bird, and questions about their work schedules. The professional bird breeders would decide if the home and new owner is right for the bird. This enables all of the cared for birds to enter a happy and safe environment handpicked just for them. If they implemented this system, there would be fewer birds in rescue centers. A lot of the buyers would find it more difficult to find a pet parrot, having to go through loops and bounds to find one. Looking for a feathery friend might be as much of a pain as finding a job. People in small towns might have to travel miles to get to the closest breeder. But after people go through all the work to find the bird, they are less likely to give that bird away. If people have to work hard for something that will be in their life for 25 years or more, it will definitely make people think “do I really want to do this?” The hardships of finding a parrot companion will be a good thing for the owner and the bird. My solution completely considers the well being of Birds, and bird buyers. This prevents birds going to bad homes and then being given away, which eventually leads them to a bird adoption and rescue center. This solution gives extra security to bird buyer because they won’t be buying sick, injured or wild caught birds. Birds can be handpicked and matched to customers depending on their home and life situation. This will help fit the right bird to the right home depending on how much attention the buyer is willing to give the bird, some require more than others. Many birds will be very happy with a family; they won’t be stuck in a dark office all weekend like the poor macaw from the story. Take a step forward for the Birds and help me make it illegal for mainstream pet stores to sell them, because certain species of birds should not be sold to the general public.