Foster Parrots Ltd - Veterinary Petition

We are circulating a petition to veterinarians across the country who are aware of and concerned about the serious need to stop the selling of parrots by large pet store chains. Our goal is to take the signatures to the media and pursue a public awareness campaign to educate the consumer as to the true responsibilities and realities of keeping a wild captive exotic bird.

Your signatures are a valuable tool. Your comments are welcomed and encouraged.

Click here to create a printable copy of the petition - you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader:

In reply to a questionnaire sent to vets across the country concerning the problem of unwanted parrots and euthanization of parrots in their areas, we received the following letter from Todd Wolf, DVM, ABVP of New Jersey:

"Unfortunately this is a very common problem everywhere. I sometimes wonder if exotic birds should be kept as pets at all, a hard statement to make since I am a bird owner and my living is made from caring for them.

'These are wild animals and many of them adapt very poorly to life in captivity. This mis-adaptation manifests as a huge array of behavioral problems. The public is never told about the potential problems i.e. noise, biting, aggression, self-mutilation, mess, etc., when they are buying a bird.

'They are told about the wonderful things i.e. companionship, talking, tricks, etc. This is a big mistake and, it leads to thousands of impulse buys by unknowing, inexperienced people who mean well but soon find that this was not the pet for them. Unfortunately it's the birds that suffer in the end, and I'm afraid that the trend you are now seeing is only the tip of the iceberg. It's not going to be easy to find homes for the thousands of unwanted birds that will be flooding the shelters soon. Not to mention that they live a long time when compared to dogs and cats."

Sincerely,
Todd Wolf, DVM, ABVP

Foster Parrots, Ltd. Veterinary Petition

Foster Parrots, Ltd.
Veterinary Petition