The Truth About Bird Suppliers

Bad News for Birds

Exotic birds, like many other animal species bred for the commercial pet trade, are raised in conditions that are designed to be the most profitable for breeders. Hundreds—sometimes thousands—of birds may be crowded inside sheds, barns, and garages without any regard for their basic needs or the dangers of spreading infection and disease. Just like puppy mills, bird mills breed misery and disease.

Making matters even worse, there is no federal legislation to protect birds in the pet trade, and successful prosecution of cruel or negligent bird breeders is unlikely under most state anti-cruelty laws.

A Washington State parrot-breeding operation—which a vet described as a “concentration camp” and where, according to news sources, birds “lived in cold, wet, filthy conditions for years”—remains open and continues to raise birds for the pet trade. The same lack of care has been reported on a national level at breeding facilities across the country. Large-scale breeding mills are largely responsible for the bird supply at your local pet store, whether they’re national chains or privately owned businesses.

Disease Is Widespread

A common characteristic of extremely crowded bird-breeding factories is the widespread presence of communicable diseases, from Pacheco’s disease—a herpes virus that is highly contagious—to papillomavirus, salmonellosis, psittacosis, giardia infection, and influenza.

Sick birds can infect humans too. Bird flu is the latest threat posed to human health by unregulated, unmonitored, and unlicensed bird breeders, but it is not the most common disease that can be passed from wild birds to humans. Salmonellosis, E. coli infection, tuberculosis, giardia infection, and other illnesses associated with bacteria and fungi that affect birds also affect humans.

Smuggling Is Common

Add to this nightmare the multibillion-dollar-a-year illegal wildlife trade, in which wild-caught parrots and macaws are a prime commodity. Hardly a week goes by without another story of a bird smuggler who was caught with parrots in the air-cleaner of his or her car, budgies’ being smuggled in jacket pockets, or any of hundreds of other often-deadly schemes to illegally import these valuable birds. While many smugglers are caught, most are not, so thousands of uninspected—and frequently sick—birds enter the companion bird trade each year.

Remember: Buying a companion bird contributes to this cycle of disease and abuse, so to appreciate birds without buying and caging them, consider creating your own backyard sanctuary.

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