Massachusetts: Stop selling birds at shops/online & switch to adoptions only

Have you seen birds suffering, isolation, confinement & unable to fly (cruel clipping wings) at shops for months & years?

Rescues, shelters are already full & overwhelmed with bird surrenders. They need major help for themselves & the birds!

The parrot CRISIS also affects guardians, rescues- emotionally, financially..etc.

It's not their fault for requirements to foster & adopt.

Customers have plead, asked, messaged, called..etc pet shops for decades now, to make improvements coast-to-coast, education..etc. Sadly, no changes.

For ex. customer asked 2+ managers & corporate for assistance for the bird(s) needing help. For ex. with pin feathers- on their head for over a month. Uncomfortable for birds, some without a mate to preen. Unable to reach head & neck.etc by themselves. Birds molting, esp. need access to water/ at-will baths, sun, fresh air - not cobwebs.

Customers have asked stores, social media & corporate to please provide budgies at all locations with wooden toys, foraging..etc. As their natural habitat would/should be (& safer) other than only those rainbow colored plastic chain links hanging inside budgie enclosures. Nothing has changed.

Images & reports of enclosures in several states, locations without any perches, or even broken. & without any wooden toys, fallen ladders..etc.

Store managers say corporate's aviary sets things and they're very strict! Some reportedly also feel badly for the birds, animals they see, however they're "hands are tied", "policy"  unable to help & spend more time with animals as much as they'd wish. Some say they're so busy, even at the registers, with customers, working on the floor, w/ other animals..etc. For ex. fix placement of toys, accessiblity. 

Birds need Avian specialty veterinary care, not always getting at stores. Birds hide their injuries/illnesses well.

This lead to cases such as #JusticeForLittleBuddy - dying too soon (1 day later) lead poisoning, underweight, dehydrated.. etc. from pet shop. Rescues call for change, please see news story & other petitons. 

Birds from mills are often sick & carry diseases. Little Buddy was also from Sun Pet mill, GA. Appears same Black Capped Conures all throughout USA.

Please visit adoptable Birds and animals at your nearby rescues.

Thank you

#JusticeForLittleBuddy & flock

"It seems there's hardly an animal welfare organization in existence today that isn't waging some kind of campaign against Petco and PetSmart, urging them to stop selling birds and other small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and arachnids. The Avian Welfare Coalition, World Animal Protection, In Defense of Animals, PETA, and many others continue to wage a war against Petco and PetSmart. Foster Parrots enthusiastically endorses the efforts of these organizations and continues to take the stand we began over 20 years ago."

From - Summer 2024 | The Official NEEWSLetter of Foster Parrots & The New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary

From AWC's petition- almost 75,000 signatures

"Retail sale of birds promotes the suffering of millions of individuals, who are kept in conditions unsuitable to express their natural behaviors, released outdoors to die, or relinquished to overburdened and unprepared shelters.

Whether the Bird is wild-caught or captive-bred, their welfare in captivity is frequently poor. It is very difficult to meet the needs of these intelligent, highly social, flight-adapted animals in a home environment. Sadly, many natural Parrot behaviors are often the very ones that lead to relinquishment or abuse of the Bird.

It is simply impossible for Petco and PetSmart to conduct the necessary screening, education, and post-placement follow-up and support that rescue groups typically engage in when they place birds in private homes.

Here are some of the common fates faced by birds purchased in retail pet stores:

• Spend the bulk of their days confined to a cage incapable of accommodating flight and other natural behaviors.
• Relinquished to shelters that are already overwhelmed with unwanted animals.

Petco and PetSmart first eliminated the sale of dogs and cats, then rabbits and larger species of birds, such as cockatoos, macaws, and African greys, due to ethical concerns. Now, it's time to take the next step.

Text from the Avian Welfare Coalition (AWC)"