Serious Moral Issue

[Animal Lover]

The other day my daughter was over her friend's house and they ended up going to a Petstupid. Well, there was a young male dove there that was sitting on the cage floor weezing through his mouth. He definitly has a respiratory infection. I went today (stupid me) to see if she was right, and sure enough, he was sitting in his food dish now, breathing through his mouth.

I'm facing a moral issue now.

I know that I would be supporting the store if I got him, but I'm feeling hypocritical. Both in the fact of actially thinking about buying him. But, also in calling myself an animal lover that tries her hardest to help all animals that need it when he is sitting there suffering. In the end I feel that I would feel better if I got him all the medical care he needed rather than let him suffer untill he dies and ends up in some freezer in the back room with other corpses.

Please, I need some help on this, I don't mean to start anything. And sorry about the long post.

[Henle15]

Why not make the store get the care it needs? Call the local animal control or ASPCA and tell them about it. Or also start documenting everything on video or photos. Get a cell phone and start snapping away and if they ask what you are doing, tell them you want to show your friend the bird or tell them you are interested in it and want to have a picture.

Also make a big deal about it in the store and tell the manager it needs to be taken to the vet.

As an animal lover I realize you are trying to help, but you would be doing more good by making a scene in the store and point out why the bird is sick and documenting everything and then posting it on a website.

You cannot save them all and if you buy that one, what about the next? and the next? and the next? It think you understand where I am going with this and the suffering has to stop somewhere and if that is the bird that stops it, you will feel much better than buying it and then them just replacing it the next week with another to suffer.

[Paula]

If it were me, and I had the resources and knowledge (and money for vet costs) I would talk to the manager and point out how sick he is. It's possible they just don't know and you might be able to persuade the supervisor/manager to let you take the bird without paying. It depends on how you spin it, but if you can convince him that the bird is so obviously sick no one will buy it, he might just say, "OK, you take the thing then." Point out to him that he's going to have a serious issue on his hands if the condition is contagious and the bird infects all the rest of his incoming "stock" if it hasn't already.

There is the possibility that if you go that route, they'll say they won't sell you the bird because he's sick, and don't want you returning him, or whatever.

I think if you're sure to talk to a manager, though, instead of just some person working the front who could probably care less about the bird in the store, you'll have a good shot of walking out of there with a "free" bird that you can care for properly.

Maybe at the least you can make sure the bird gets to a vet of the pet store's choosing? Offer to take it to your vet and pay for it (if you are willing to that is.)

If all else fails call the ASPCA and see if they can do something.

It's one thing to know about the horrible things that happens in petstores, it's another entirely to see an animal sick and in pain because of that the pet stores have created. It isn't the bird's fault he's in a crappy situation, and he deserves care and treatment one way or another.

[Mhera]

Don't be afraid to speak. Tell the manager, "hey, dude, that bird's been sick for __ days, nobody in this pet store seems to care about pets. Should I be worried?" I've read somewhere they can't legally sell the bird sick, and if it comes up sick within like 3 weeks of buying it, they have to pay the vet bills.

But don't feel bad if you don't buy the bird, really it represents nearly all of the animals in petstores today. That's part of how they get their business, guilt tripping you into it. It's sick irony, they use the animals to protect themselves. I'm sure people bigger and more important have filed some lawsuits against how the petstores treat their animals.

My voice is only one of thousands on this website, and nearly all have faced the same delimma. Perhaps someone smarter could find a loophole in one of the petstore's rules, perhaps something that says all pets in the store must be able to be inspected by a vet, treated by the same vet, and the bills be paid by the petstore. If I could find something like that, I'd be in every pet store in the country pointing out sick animals.

[krittercrazy]

Talk to the management. I would even call your state veterinarian. Petsmart had only recently started selling birds again. They had stopped because of a bacterial upper respiratory infection. This could be the same thing. Why would they would think that not selling birds for awhile would change things? They are still buying from mills and backyard breeders that are overbreeding, crowding and generally have poor care. The source has not changed. Petstupid ...grumble grumble
The disease they had was psittacosis. It is contagious to humans. Disease Listing, Psittacosis, Technical Information | CDC Bacterial, Mycotic Diseases

Listing for state veterinarians
State Veterinarian List

[Animal Lover]

Thanks for the help. I pointed him out to a few workers and they said that his behavior was normal .

After the research I did today, there was nothing that said lethargy, swollen eyes, diarrhoea (it covered his cage, gross), and labored breathing were normal. I'm definitly going to speak to the manager. I wasn't able to before because they told me that if I was't going to buy anything to leave. We all know what happened next...I left.
Also, I looked up Psittacosis in birds, and the symptoms they stated were all the symptoms he displayed.

I have a bad feeling I'm getting kicked out of another petstore tomorrow...

[krittercrazy]

I have a bad feeling I'm getting kicked out of another petstore tomorrow...

Be sure to loudly proclaim "contagious to humans" so all in the store can hear.

I wonder if it also contagious to other animals? I would think since it is bacterial that it could possibly.

[VoodooJoint]

You need to alert animal control and the health department. It is illegal for them to NOT seek out medical treatment, or at least euthanasia, for the bird.

If you go back to the store bring a camera, take pictures, video and make notes including the names of employees/managers you have alerted and any other info that could possibly be helpful. It's better to have too much information then not enough.

Present that info to animal control/spca/humane society/heath department to bolster your case. Petstores will start to take humane treatment more seriously if the proper authorities are involved more often. Humane authorities should be called every time you see a problem and more then one person should call about the situation. The more people that get involved and call then the more likely humane enforcement will act on the incidents.

[Amsley246]

I know in our store (it's a hardware store) if someone says they would like the speak the a manager, we HAVE to let them. I can't believe they would let you. I would definetly start going for authorities now because that's illegal like VJ said. What a terrible situation to be in, poor little birdie!

[Fishguy2727]

Petsmart's policy is to provide adequate veterinary care to all animals (even if it means a $4 mouse gets $400 worth of vet care). That is THEIR policy, not to mention the law. Idiot employees who think it is okay to BS customers (whether they actually realize it is really sick or not) may try and tell you otherwise, but that is obviously a serious health problem.

Take pictures and video if you can. Tell the manager. Make sure he knows that you have pictures and videos and are willing to go to the proper authorities if it is necessary. Most managers are MUCH better at taking proper care than the employees.

Do not buy it. They need to pay the vet bill on this one. By buying it you are 1-giving them money in general and supporting their habit if selling these animals and 2-saving them tons of money in vet bills. By not buying it but making sure it gets the proper vet care you are actually costing them money and making it less profitable for them to be selling the animals in the first place.

[gooberific]

If that bird is so sick, could the rest of the birds there get sick, too?

[hueyeats]

Like others said,

document what you can, on paper & by media (vid, photos etc.).

Hand all evidences to appropriate authorities (AC, ASPCA etc.).

You can also scare them by saying you will approach health department if they do not do anything for it because you suspect that it may have the possibility to spread bird viruses (very contagious to humans like i.e. bird flu) just because they (the store) cannot prove that it had already taken that sick bird to a vet to verify.

Something serious like "bird flu" will sure get heath department into a store pronto!

P.S. You never know where they get their "doves" from... maybe even China (they eat doves there & is mass produced; who knows... maybe pet stores are getting them from there cheap?) where there is a case of a confirmed case of "Bird Flu" that happens only just this month! (that of a 16 year old & also the 27 year old) That is 3 cases already in just the beginning of 2009 on this month of January.

Plus P.S.
If AC or ASPCA cannot get a store to close, heath department can actually officially close stores down if there is potential heath threats to humans... they will be forced to close!