A real shamble.

[Peta]

Today has been a Bank Holiday for us in the UK, so its been a nice long weekend. The weather has been wonderful, really bright, warm and sunny As its been so nice we decided to go out for some Lunch, stopping off on the way home at a pet store.

While we were there, a man was asking one of the staff some questions on the birds, now the answers she gave had me in fits of laughter. The bird in question was a Cockatiel.

"They have to be kept in an aviary outside, otherwise they will get really stressed end up plucking all the feathers out, and screaming the house down."

The poor guy was in shock as he just wanted a couple of birds for his little girls, they were really upset. As she left I went over to talk to the man and told him that I have 2 cockatiels who were inside in a large cage, they still had all their feathers, and although they could be loud it was no where near screaming the house down. The cage he had for the two birds was huge, he had done a lot of research on them and had got toys of all sorts. He did end up getting his two cockatiels, so I wished him luck and handed him a buisness card for the parrot forums. hehehehe, one way to drum up buisness.

I really want to say that these places should really have staff who know what they are talking about, and not just make it up as they go along. It was the same shop that tried to sell me two Rosa Bourkes when they were clearly ordinary Bourkes. I don't ever buy my birds from them. But I can feel a letter coming on to the head office, just to let them know how awful that is.

Sorry to ramble but it really got me going, I was so mad. I'll get off my soapbox now, and have a stiff cup of coffee.

 

[Alison]

Unfortunately, the majority of people who work in pet shops don't have a clue about birds, or much else for that matter. Those who do, are generally not going to tell a person the truth anyways, because the truth, say about Cockatoos or Amazons, would likely ruin the possibility of that big sale. It's a sad truth, but one that is oh so familiar. Many of the birds that end up in shelters, end up there because the people had no clue what they were getting into when they bought a high maintanence bird, or a high volume bird. Most of the pet shops really don't care what happens to the birds once they are sold, as long as they get their money on the deal.

 

[Peta]

Isn't that sad, for both the buyer and the bird. It doesn't surprise me though, as when I was looking round for Bucc, I would ask questions that I already knew the answers to. My favourite being, "Do they make much noise, I have neighbours" Most places, breeders included said, "Oh no they are very quiet," Although he is quieter than say a macaw, he can certainly turn the noise level up real high when he wants to. lol

The place I ended up getting him from told me the whole truth, "they are one of the quietest, but CAN and WILL be loud at times"

especially when he doesn't get his own way hehehehe, and that quip is from me.

 

[Alison]

"Oh no they are very quiet,"

That reminds me of when I ran the shelter and had someone come here wanting to adopt an Amazon. On one of the questions I asked, why they felt that this was the best species for them and they replied that they live in an apartment and that they have a newborn baby and need a very quiet bird! I asked why they thought that Amazons were quiet and they told me that the people at the pet store assured them they were quiet and friendly birds. They also wanted a bird that would never bite!!!! LMAO. Apparently they had been considering buying a baby one instead of adopting, until they saw the price tag on the bird. Needless to say, I didn't adopt them the bird. If you are not familiar with Amazons, let me assure you that they are capable of extremely loud noises the would make you feel like you just time warped into the jungle during breeding season! And speaking of breeding season, a male "Hot Three" Amazon won't hesitate to remove some of your favorite body parts during that time of year. (No, not all are like that, but many are). I had to laugh, but it was indeed a sad laugh.

 

[Peta]

Boy, wouldn't they have been in for one shock, lets just hope that if they still decide they really want one that they get to know the real facts. Too often Birds have to suffer for peoples ignorance, or other peoples greed, (shop keepers, breeders) The one who suffers in the end is the bird every time.