Originally posted by Twisterdog
I agree that PETA is VERY extreme. And scary.

I have been to a couple of PETCO's, and they looked like very nice, clean stores. The animals seemed happy, had lots of room and toys. None of them looked ill, and the employees seemed caring and knowledgeable.

However .... I don't shop there. I have a rule that I will not spend any money at any store that sells live animals. Why? Because of the source of those animals. Even if the store itself takes good care of the animals, the animals - by default - have come from a mill. Pet stores get their animals from breeding mills, because a reputable, private breeder won't sell to a pet store. If any of you have even had the misfortune to visit a puppy mill or a bird mill, you know how horrible the conditions are there. The babies are the "lucky" ones - they at least get out, go to a pet store, and have a chance of being sold to a loving home. The "breeding stock" that is stuck in the mill will spend their entire lives in a tiny cage, churning out babies for sale, until they die of exhaustion, then they will be replaced by the next breeder. It is the saddest fate.

So ... getting off my soapbox now .....
But how do you know Petco's source is a Puppy mill? At our Petco, there have never been puppies anyway, and they sometimes have kittens up for adoption. Most of the animals they have a birds, fish, hamsters, rats, geckos, and snakes. I personally have never heard of a bird mill. I thought Petco and Petsmart get their birds from quality bird breeders, where they have their own birds, breed them, hatch the eggs, raise them with love, and then sell them either to people or certain pet stores. I have met many bird breeders and been on their websites, and I don't think anyone could care for birds better. My friend recently got a conure from a breeder, and she chose her baby right after it hatched, and then went to see how it was at the breeder every week for 2 months. She said the breeder would lovingly handfeed each baby, cuddle them, and was most gentle with them. She said that they were kept in wonderful conditions and every bird was well cared for. My friend said that those kind of breeders supply Petco and Petsmart, but I don't know how true it is. I personally believe Petco gets their birds from a good breeder because each bird has its hatch date written at the bottom of its large cage, and most of the birds are no more than 1-2 months old. If they were living in bad conditions before, they are still only babies when at Petco and I think we would be able to tell they were kept in bad conditions before from their health and alertness. The birds at Petco were very healthy and it seemed that they had the best care and company. I don't know for sure where Petco gets their animals but at least for the birds, I think they are from a good breeder. As for Peta, I think they are VERY EXTREME. I mean, some of their articles are so extreme that they're ridiculous. I go crazy when I read their articles, I mean, my brain goes crazy. It makes me feel like they're criticizing the way everyone raises their birds and pets and that everyone does things wrong. Another thing that offends me is that make make fun of Petco's logo of (Where the pets go) by saying (Where the pets die). Personally I have had great experiences with Petco, and not even once have I spotted a sick or dirty condition animal, let alone a dead one. I did see one parakeet at Petsmart sitting puffed up, and I pointed that out to one of the workers, who immediately got upset and took the bird out to take to its vet. He was only puffed up and sleeping, and he may have been taking a nap, but I pointed it out because he was the only one looking lazy in the cage. I'm glad she took him to get him checked. That really shows how much they care about the well-being of their animals.