New Bill in New York State Would Address a Leading Source of Bird Suffering: Pet Stores
Blog
Animal champion Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal has introduced a bill that would ban the sale of birds in New York pet stores—offering hope to countless birds suffering in breeding mills.
Here’s the top four reasons why we must end the sale of birds in pet stores.
1. Birds Come From Cruel Mills
Like puppies, birds sold as pets are bred in massive industrial farms called bird mills. Thousands of birds are kept in small, barren cages without the ability to fly, socialize, and explore. Sick and injured birds are often ignored or discarded. Baby birds are stolen from their parents before they have time to bond or even learn how to be birds.
2. Birds Suffer in Captivity
If a bird survives the mill, she’s looking at a lifetime in a cage, likely alone. Most of the birds sold in pet stores are parrots. Parrots are intensely social animals who travel in large flocks and fly for miles in the wild. In a person’s home, a parrot is confined to a small cage or room and deprived of parrot companionship. Lonely and bored, many birds develop severe psychological problems and may engage in feather plucking, a form of self-mutilation.
3. Animal Rescues and Sanctuaries Are Overwhelmed
There aren’t enough bird rescues and sanctuaries in the US to care for abandoned and relinquished birds. Bird behavioral problems and life changes, such as a death in the family or financial trouble, have resulted in birds flooding rescues and sanctuaries. Sanctuaries can’t keep up. Foster Parrots, one of the largest accredited parrot sanctuaries in the US, receives 700 to 1,000 requests annually.
4. Bird Sales Drive the Destructive Wildlife Trade
Breeding birds in captivity for the pet trade hurts conservation efforts. Seeing birds in cages in pet stores drives the demand for capturing birds in the wild. That means more birds, including threatened and endangered birds, will be poached and trafficked.
5. Help Pass This Bill
We’re teaming up with NY-based Voters for Animal Rights to protect birds and make this bill law. If you live in New York, send an email to your assemblymember and ask them to sponsor this bill. Live somewhere else? Sign our petition to ban the sale of birds in pet stores and be alerted when similar legislation comes to your town.
A huge thank you to Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal for her tireless work on behalf of New York’s animals!