“She’s Hatched Dozens of Chicks. She’s Never Seen the Sky:” World Animal Protection’s PSAs Hit NYC

Most New Yorkers walk past a LinkNYC kiosk every day. There are nearly 2,200 kiosks on corners in every borough, offering free Wi-Fi, phone charging, and a quick map when you're lost. But right now, some of those screens are also spreading the word about bird mills and an important bill in the New York City Council that would protect birds from cruelty. 

The Story Behind the PSA 

Birds in pet stores come from commercial breeding mills, where thousands of birds are packed into barren, dirty cages. They’re torn from their parents as babies and denied the ability to fly and flock. Some of them will never even take a breath of fresh air or see the sun before they’re shipped to a pet store.  

In spring 2026, we released the first undercover investigation of bird mills in the US. The heartbreaking footage revealed the cruelty that birds bred for pet stores endure. Our investigator found cages crusted with waste and dead rats decomposing next to living birds. One mill owner told our investigator that he suffocates “unsellable” birds to death in plastic bags.  

That’s why we’re working with New York City Council Member Harvey Epstein to pass Intro 912, a bill prohibiting the sale of birds in pet stores. 

To run the PSAs, we worked with F.Y. Eye, a nonprofit media agency whose mission is to build public awareness about critical nonprofit work by creating and distributing public service announcements with local artists and creators. In addition to running on LinkNYC’s citywide network, our ads are also running on “the PSA Network,” a group of digital screens across the city that amplify nonprofit PSAs in trusted community spaces. Thanks to one of F.Y. Eye’s media partnerships, they secured a donated PSA placement for our bird mill PSA at SummerStage, NYC’s nationally recognized performing arts festival.

Get Involved 

See one of our PSAs? Snap a photo and share it on social media. 

We also need every New Yorker to email and call their city council member and ask them to co-sponsor Intro 912. If your council member has already signed on, send a quick thank-you anyway—it shows the council that people are paying attention. 

Don't live in NYC? You can still help. Your city could be the next to ban the retail sale of animals. Download our advocacy toolkit and learn how to push for a ban on pet store animal sales where you live.