Originally posted by Twisterdog
The Petco's I have been to do not sell puppies or kittens, either. When I spoke of puppy mills, I wasn't meaning Petco in particular, just any pet store that sells puppies or kitties.

I, personally, have seen several bird mills. I am on the board of directors of our local humane society, and we had to go into a bird mill and take all the birds after animal control busted it. There were over 200 cages in a single room. The bird cages were stacked on top of each other, from floor to ceiling. There were budgies, finches, canaries, sun conures, cockateils and diamond doves. And that was only one room .... The basement was full ... and I do mean FULL ... of birds. We wore masks, the air was so bad in there. This woman sold her birds to pet stores. The hatch dates were on the cards. Some of the birds looked healthy, but most looked stressed. One blue and gold macaw had plucked out ALL its feathers. It was completely naked except for its head. A lot of the birds were sick. Mites, respiratory infections, bumble foot, etc. Some of the birds were dead, lying in the bottom of cages with live birds. But, I'm sure when she loaded up a cage full of babies and took them to the pet store, all looked fine. I have been to a couple of pet stores that bought her birds, and they looked fine. Like I said ... the tragedy is not the ones that are sold, it is the ones that remain behind to breed. The same ... and worse ... is true of puppy mills.

I also have many friends who are reputable breeders, both of dogs and birds. They have a small number of animals, they are healthy, happy members of the family - not breeding stock stuck in a cage. These people hand-pick the owners of their babies, do extensive screening, and will take back one of their babies anytime, if the home doesn't work out. They also do extensive health and genetic screening, and breed to improve the lines. That is the difference is being a reputable breeder and a mill .... both quantity and quality, in the short and long term.

I'm not bashing Petco per se ... I just don't approve of mass, wholesale breeding of animals with no regard to where those animals end up. Mills are a major contributor to pet overpopulation, something I have to deal with every heartbreaking day.
The breeder that my friend bought her bird from only breeds a few birds at a time, and they take very good care of their birds. The breeders I have visited were also good ones. Is a bird mill different from a bird breeder? The conditions you described sound awful. I would die seeing something like that. Poor birdies. People should reallize they need to care for animals properly and in good conditions if they want to breed them. I don't know if Petco buys their birds from those horrible places, but I hope they don't. At least they take good care of the birds they take in. I have no where else to buy my bird's food from except Petco and Petsmart, so I have no choice but to go there. I don't know where they get the animals from but I really hope all those poor animals stuck in mills get good homes and families and people choosing to breed birds breed them in better conditions and in smaller amounts.