Petco agrees to stop large bird sales!

[CathyBogart]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7480632/

Petco agrees to stop large-bird sales
Deal ends PETA boycott of pet supply chainThe Associated Press
Updated: 2:43 p.m. ET April 14, 2005SAN DIEGO - Petco Animal Supplies Inc. said Tuesday it will stop selling large birds in a deal with an animal rights group, which agreed to end its boycott of the pet supply chain.

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Amazon and African grey parrots, cockatoos and macaws will no longer be sold at Petco stores once the company runs through its existing stock. Petco will continue selling smaller and medium-sized birds, such as canaries, finches, parakeets, cockatiels and conures.

“We recognize that most of our bird customers are what we would call ’beginning hobbyists.’ Large birds are not necessarily appropriate for these individuals due to their long lifespan, size and care requirements,” Bruce Hall, Petco’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.

San Diego-based Petco, the country’s No. 2 pet supply chain with 730 stores, also agreed to encourage adoption of homeless birds from shelters and to separate mice and rats by gender to prevent them from breeding.

In return, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals agreed to end demonstrations outside Petco stores and take down its anti-Petco Web site. The Norfolk, Va.-based organization began attacking the company in January 2003 for what PETA called Petco’s pattern of mishandling pets for sale.

“We’d be happier if all birds weren’t sold, but this is a precedent-setting action,” said Daphna Nachminovitch, a PETA spokeswoman. “It is a victory for the birds for certain.”

Large parrots can easily outlive their adult owners, said Nachminovitch, who considers parrots to be wild animals and unsuitable pets. Wild and escaped parrots are known to flock noisily in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities.

Last year, Petco paid more than $900,000 to settle two lawsuits that accused the company of mistreating animals and overcharging customers. A complaint by PETA to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that calls on Petco to disclose revenue and inventory figures of pet sales remains pending.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

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What a great breakthrough!! See, PETA isn't ALL bad!

[IRescue452]

WHY????? Would PETA agree to this. The big birds are not the only problem that the stores have. I (not a PETA member), and many others, spent time contributing true information to that website, there are thousands of complaints. People are going to think that the store is perfectly ok now because they made some tiny agreement that I know they aren't going to follow and that won't make much of a difference. so the rats and mice are seperated, who cares, they will still neglect them, and the little birds don't matter?

[lizbud]

Originally posted by IRescue452
WHY????? Would PETA agree to this. The big birds are not the only problem that the stores have. I (not a PETA member), and many others, spent time contributing true information to that website, there are thousands of complaints. People are going to think that the store is perfectly ok now because they made some tiny agreement that I know they aren't going to follow and that won't make much of a difference. so the rats and mice are seperated, who cares, they will still neglect them, and the little birds don't matter?

You gotta start somewhere.Larger, longer living birds is a good
start. Come on give them some credit will ya?

[IRescue452]

Ok ok, "some credit", I'll clap when I see it, the stores around my town aren't gonna listen though.

[CathyBogart]

Then report it to corporate. The stores in my area have already stopped selling large birds. It makes me really happy that they made a breakthrough. You can't expect to fix all of the problems with pet stores at once, but stopping the sale of large birds AND separating the sexes in small animals....that's two pretty big problems right there!

[lizbud]

Originally posted by WolfChan
Then report it to corporate. The stores in my area have already stopped selling large birds. It makes me really happy that they made a breakthrough. You can't expect to fix all of the problems with pet stores at once, but stopping the sale of large birds AND separating the sexes in small animals....that's two pretty big problems right there!

Good idea. The local stores only have a franchise on the name
Petco. They have to listen to corporate direction.

[LKPike]

SERIOUSLY!!!!!??? Theres a Petco in Rivergate that has a scarlet macaw I've fallen in love with. Nobodys ever back there with him so hes been plucking himself bald! I'll be praying he gets a great new owner, now.

[Karen]

Perhaps you should contact a parrot rescue group about him. He's not gonna get bought if he's bald, and will obviously have some adjusting to do to be resocialized. Poor guy!

[LKPike]

We would absolutely LOVE to buy him. Every time we've been in to see him he'll raise his foot for tickles, he sings, stretchs wings for scratchies, etc. Their trying to sell him for 2,000$!!! at bird shows their a thousand less than that. If it werent for our recent vet bills - he'd already be ours. Theres a bird show this weekend for a bird club we belong to, I'll ask someone about a special needs bird rescue there

[Pit Chick]

While they're at it, they need to stop selling baby ferrets.

[popcornbird]

What I don't understand is why Peta has such a problem with Petco selling large birds, but not with Petsmart? They sell large birds too.

Boy am I going to MISS seeing and playing with the beautiful large parrots on my Petco visits from now on...

Ps. What in the world did they do with the birds still in the store?

[K9soul]

I actually haven't even seen any large birds at my Petco for at least the past couple years. The last time I saw one, it was an African grey and it was up by the checkout area climbing around and talking to people and employees.

I find it odd that Peta is suddenly dropping everything they've been putting out about Petco and their cruelty over an agreement like this. It seems like they are rewarding seeing their agenda (which if they had their way, would stop the sale of all pets, ANYWHERE) take a step forward, rather than being satisfied that the stores in question have mended their ways.

We’d be happier if all birds weren’t sold

And by that, they mean ALL birds, period.

Ugh, I better stop at that. Suffice it to say that organization disturbs me greatly after doing extensive research on them.

[LKPike]

Originally posted by K9soul
Suffice it to say that organization disturbs me greatly after doing extensive research on them.

I agree, 110%

[IRescue452]

Walked into my favorite pet store, Just Pets, today and found a few cages with big birds (they don't normally sell birds). I guess they got them, probably for a small price, from the nearby Petco. My gosh, they actually got rid of their large birds (good tasting foot)!!!

[CathyBogart]

I don't know about other Petsmarts, but the one near me takes beautiful care of their birds. They have an aviary about 8'x4'x10'tall with manzanita branches and toys, they only have one bird at a atime, and when I inquired about a Goffin's cockatoo they told me that since I was a young college student they probably wouldn't sell her to me. That made me happy.