Petco, PETA agree to truce over large birds

San Diego Daily Transcript ^ | Wed, Apr 13, 2005

[presidio9]

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and San Diego-based Petco Animal Supplies Inc. announced an agreement on Tuesday. PETA will end its campaign against the national pet food and supply retailer and Petco will end the sale of large birds in its stores.

Don Cowan, director of communications for Petco, said the two organizations have disagreed on this issue for a couple of years and the deal marks a truce. PETA agreed it will take down its "PetcoCruelty" Web site, remove all references to "Petno" on all sites affiliated with the organization and withdraw its support of the use of the "Petno" logo by other groups.

"We believe that all birds should have the freedom to fly and be with others of their own kind, but large birds are exceptionally hard hit by captivity, and we commend Petco for deciding to help discourage their lifetime confinement," said Ingrid Newkirk, PETA's president, in a written statement. "We hope other responsible retailers follow Petco's lead in this regard."

PETA intends to assist Petco in enlisting accredited bird rescue groups to work with the company in its in-store adoption program.

The end of selling large birds is not a material issue to Petco, according to Cowan, who said Petco will continue to sell smaller birds like finches. The company will continue to work with its shelter partners to help adopt not only dogs and cats but also homeless birds of all sizes as part of its established "Think Adoption First" program. Petco has also improved its practices and procedures for animal care such as taking all animals outside for hourly walks and offering training programs for animal care. Petco also investigates the venders it acquires animals from.

Petco looks at this as one of a series of steps weve taken to ensure that all animals in the store are well cared for, Cowan said. In the total scheme it was the right thing to do.

[Texas Federalist]

Darn! I wanted to buy a penguin.

[Ichneumon]

Would you be happy living in a closet with bars, able only to take two steps in either direction, for the remainder of your life?

First, my parrot cages are a hell of a lot bigger than that. *I* can comfortably fit into the cockatoo's cage (albeit a bit stooped over). It's so big I had to take the doors (of the house) off their hinges in order to get the cage in.

But even so, I leave my parrot's cage doors wide open whenever someone is at home (which is most of the time), and they're still quite happy being "perch potatoes". The most they'll do is climb up on top for a better view, but they don't have any interest in roaming or flying around the house, even though nothing's stopping them.

So their actual preferences don't seem to match your expectations.

I agree that there are many kinds of birds which it would be cruel to "confine" (for example soaring birds like eagles), but parrots aren't one of them. In a well-stocked cage they're as happy as a retired athlete in a Lazyboy recliner being served nachos and beer watching a widescreen TV.

[tiredoflaundry]

If you believe that, release all your dogs and cats into the woods and let God take care of them.

That's Peta's ultimate goal. In their minds all animals must run free. No pets allowed!

[tiredoflaundry]

Folks also forget that parrot's are still hunted in the wild for the feathers! It's not safe in the wild.

[tiredoflaundry]

How old is your cockatoo?

[GovernmentShrinker]

The reason Petco shouldn't be selling these birds is because there are a huge number of them stuck in cramped underfunded bird shelters, waiting for adoptive homes that will never come for most of them. These large hookbills often to live to age 75, so even if the people who buy young ones (and all the ones sold at Petco were young) keep them for the rest of their lives, the birds often outlive their owners. And of course many people experience changes in their lives over a few decades, that make it impossible for them to keep a pet that they were originally able to care for well.

These birds seem to be quite happy in captivity, as long as they have a home where they're well cared for, and enough room to spread their wings and walk around. Some owners even take them on regular trips to aviaries where they can fly safely.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

I don't get it? Because large birds are "hard hit" because they can't fly around? Petco bowed to this liberal lunacy? Parrots have been sold and kept for centuries. Answer these:

1. What was PETA's real legal argument against Petco?
2. Why didn't Petco SUE PETA for slander, libel and malicous harassment (website crap)?
3. Why did PETCO pander to these looney-tunes? PETCO just made a huge mistake and set a REAL BAD PRECEDENT.

No, large birds are hard hit because they're wild animals who generally do not do well in captivity.

It's true that a few parrots have been kept for centuries. But have only been bred in captivity for the last 100 years or so and bred in large numbers for the last 20 years or so. The average lifespan of a medium-sized parrot is 50-60 years. Larger parrots like macaws and cockatoos can live to be 100 years or more.

Petco only sells baby birds, which are cute and adorable. Once they reach sexual maturity, however, they become the screaming, biting, territorial wild animals nature intended.

Unfortunately, Petco doesn't tell prospective buyers this because they're only interested in the bottomline.

Once the large parrot matures, most people don't have the patience required to keep a wild animal in their home, so they give these birds up for adoption, or, worse, they'll lock the birds away in a dark closet, basement, garage or they batter the bird in order to get it to 'shut up'. And since the bird can't deal with this type of stress, it relieves the stress the only way it knows how --by plucking it's feathers and self-mutilation.

1) That Petco was selling parrot-mill baby parrots which was contributing to the parrot overpopulation problem.
2) Because everything PETA said about Petco's parrot-mill operation was true. Can't sue someone for slander, libel or harrassment when they tell the truth about what you do.
3) Because Petco wanted to stay in business and the bad publicity of them operating parrot-mills (just like they used to operate puppy and kitty-mills) was bad for their bottom line.

The rescues are full of parrots that have been rehomed multiple times or end up being euthanized when no one will take them.

This is the same reason why Petco stopped selling puppies and kittens.

Surely you don't advocate unbridled breeding of dogs and cats in puppy and kitten mills, too?

But, don't believe me. Do a google search on "Parrot rescue" and count the sites.

One of the best is MyToos.com.

Here's some examples of what parrots do to themselves in captivity:

Pretty cruel, isn't it?

Or, this:

Or, this:

Or, this:

Or, this:

Or, this:

Or, this:

[presidio9]

it is really cruel to put a bird in a cage, denying them their most basic instinct to fly freely.

Parrots are highly social animals. Their most basic instinct is to socialize. Either with other parrots, or with a surrogate family. This socializing behavior is one of the main reasons why parrots are able to mimic vocalizations. Parrots in the wild do this to identify themselves as members of a clan or colony. Parrots relate to their owners the same way a dog another highly social animal adopts his human family. In fact, like dogs, most parrots who are kept as pets seem to think that they are human.

[presidio9]

I were to release a tropical bird, he would freeze to death in winter, if he didn't starve to death or be pecked to death long before that.

Also not true on the other side of the argument. There are successful colonies of escaped pet parrots living all over NYC and other cold weather places. Parrots are very smart and can take care of themselves quite well

See Here

[presidio9]

Would you be happy living in a closet with bars, able only to take two steps in either direction, for the remainder of your life?

Who ever heard of a bird-owner who kept it exclusively in a cage. Parrots are very affectionate.

[Sender]

Well if parrots can live in NYC winter, I guess they're tough enough ;^) I just get peeved over people that complain I'm keeping a wild animal in a cage. I know he's happy, and I make sure he is. He's talking to me right now. They must not understand what is required to care for an animal.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Who ever heard of a bird-owner who kept it exclusively in a cage. Parrots are very affectionate.

True. But, only if they've been properly socialized. Dogs and cats can act just as wild if they don't have regular, loving human contact.

Parrots are also noisy, messy, bite and are unpredictable. When they reach sexual maturity, they often become very territorial over their nest and their mates. This is why some parrots, like certain breeds of cockatoos and african greys are known to be one-person birds. They pick one human as it's mate and defend it's territory against intrusion by man and beast alike.

Unfortunately, more people than you think keep their birds in a cage and never let them out. This is especially true after the bird reaches sexual maturity and begins acting like nature intended.

Since they're birds, we can't tone down their sexual behavior through spaying and neutering because their avian anatomy doesn't lend itself to these procedures. So, the only thing we humans can do is to either learn to live with them through the breeding season or give them up. There is no middle ground.

[Sender]

Well my bird doesn't 'mutilate' himself. He asks to come out so he can get a shower in the sink and a snack. I agree that anyone who buys ANY pet should consider the requirements to keep it happy, but pictures like these are something for Jerry Springer, not the norm.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Well if parrots can live in NYC winter, I guess they're tough enough ;^) I just get peeved over people that complain I'm keeping a wild animal in a cage.

That's just it. You are keeping a wild animal in a cage. Can he be happy? Sure, because you love him and take care of his needs. But, not everyone treats their birds so well or are able to properly deal with them. That's why PETA wants Petco to stop selling these wild animals as pets.

Domestication requires thousands of years of breeding. Parrots are only a generation or two at most from their wild brethren.

But, Petco doesn't tell anyone they're buying a wild animal when they sell a large parrot. Instead they tell the prospective buyer they're buying an animal that'll be a perfect pet for kids, grandma, or whomever else they can think of to get you to buy the bird. And they don't care what happens to you or the bird once the sale is made.

That's why there's literally thousands of unwanted birds in hundreds of rescues across the country.

[presidio9]

As with all species, there are some individuals who are mentally unbalanced from the start. Happens with dogs and cats, and humans too. And then there are bad owners. Nobody here is advocating catching wild parrots for pets. However, with an owner who knows what he is doing, and gives the bird the attention it needs, captive parrots can lead very comfortable and happy lives. And the live about twice as long as their wild cousins. Animal rights activists are fond of showing the worst case scenario, and projecting it across the board, but this is the same logic that says that all Catholic priests are pedophiles because a tiny percentage of them were.

[nw_arizona_granny]

It was my experience that many of your sick birds, would have improved with a better diet and vitamins.

Parrots have diseases, as we do, cancer is common.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Well my bird doesn't 'mutilate' himself. He asks to come out so he can get a shower in the sink and a snack. I agree that anyone who buys ANY pet should consider the requirements to keep it happy, but pictures like these are something for Jerry Springer, not the norm.

Great! He's one of the lucky few who has an owner who loves and takes care of him. But, your situation is very atypical.

No, actually, they're the norm. The parrot rescues are full of plucked, mutilated birds that came from so-called reputable breeders and places like Petco and PetsMart.

If this weren't the case, then there wouldn't be thousands of these birds in rescues across the country. Most parrots in a rescue have been through at least 3 homes before they were given up. If parrots were as easy to take care of as we're led to believe, this wouldn't be the case.

[nw_arizona_granny]

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[Calpernia]

>>>PETCO just made a huge mistake and set a REAL BAD PRECEDENT.

That is because PETA has won with them before. PetCo use to sell dogs and cats. Now PetCo houses cat adoptions within their store. This is the same thing they will be doing now with the birds.

Once PETA gets an inch with you, they will be back again and again to take more.

[Calpernia]

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