Last month, My dad and i went into a Pet's mart that is near us to get some cat food for my cats. Well, a few weeks prior I had seen this poor budgie in the what they call a "cage" and the poor thing's back tail feathers was missing. I told the young girl that is the pet specialist and she said she's take care of it. Well a few weeks later that poor bird was still in with the other budgies. I was livid pissed and told someone else that looked like they worked there. She looked like an important person that worked there because she had a walkie talkie and then called the person that takes care of the pets and then we bought our stuff and left. It pained me to see that poor bird like that and in hindsight should've called someone that day, but i didn't. I said if i saw that bird in there one more time, I'd call someone. I dunno why i thought it would've made any difference if i waited. It would be worse if i wait because the bird could die and I'd have no proof. Now i know who to call for cruelty to cats and dogs, but animals in pets shops, I've no idea. I live in Louisiana in Jefferson Parish. If someone could direct me to the correct people so i can report this, id appreciate it greatly

Not sure about your state but here in Illinois the dept of ag overlooks pet shops and whatnot...good luck and bless you for taking steps to help the poor lil budgie....

That's probably as good of place as any to start...if they don't handle it in your state, they can probably direct you to the ones who do...

Did they ever tell you why the back tail feathers were missing? Back tail feathers tend to come out quite easily and I am just wondering if someone trying to touch the bird grabbed it by its tail and the feathers just fell out?

Were there other issues you observed with the bird?

You can check to see what types of rules your state has in regards to pets in pet shops and if you feel they are violating one of those rules you can report them.

Good luck hugs impy

Just my two cents...when my Liam was young, he used to dive off his cage all the time and his tail feathers would get broken constantly. He'd end up pulling them out because he knew they were busted and he ended up having a few scraggly tail feathers. Maybe something similar is happening with this budgie. Do you notice anything else wrong with the bird? If it's just missing tail feathers, the store vet (assuming the bird saw one) probably figured they would grow back and the bird could stay with its flock.
Even when there is something really wrong, it takes a lot of persistence to get things done in these large pet stores (I work in one and I have trouble letting my voice be heard sometimes). A few months back, I noticed something was wrong with one of our canaries that I had named Sunshine. I kept begging the general manager to have a vet look at him because he just didn't look well to me. To make a long story short, I finally had to take matters into my own hands and the poor bird ended up dying of canary pox recently after being ill for a few months. Animals should always come first in a pet store, and screw the bottom line. The manager who kept ignoring my pleas for Sunshine to see a vet is no longer with the company, so hopefully I won't have so much trouble getting the animals the care they need next time.
Anyway, the point of my long rambling story is...I don't know If you are truly concerned about this little keet, I would call customer service and ask them to look into it. Sometimes these managers are so absorbed in other things that they forget what's really important, and they just need a kick in the butt from corporate to remind them.

The last time i went to that Pet's mart I saw with my own eyes another budgie picking at where the tail should be. All of the budgies are puffed up and look either stressed or possibly sick.




do you know which dept. is it? There are so many listed on the website.

I used to live in Kenner.

If you give me the link to their website I'd be glad to look it over and see if I can figure that part out!

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome

Aha that's why you can't find it, you need to check with your states Dept of Ag, here's a link I found for ya with all contacts on there........Start with calling the Animal Health Services, I would think that's it but if not they can direct you to who you need to speak with...

Louisiana Department of Agriculture

I wish you all the best, but don't be surprised if you get the run around from any government official or animal rescue. Their standards are not quite what ours are, and if the birds have adequate food, water and shelter, then they most likely will do nothing.

A better approach is to contact the store owner, not a manager or employee, but the owner and tell them what your concerns are. Do it by telephone, or by mail. Be smart about what you say and don't be too 'angry' when you talk. Most people will not listen when they are being yelled at or talked down to, or threatened.

Great advice Carrie~Anne.

I had a similar experience in my area. Not the same chainstore you mentioned but the other big one. Anyways, they had 4 tiels in one cage and I noticed that one of them had blood all over his back-end and what was left of his tail. I saw the other tiels picking at his back-end where his tail would start and it was all raw and bloody!

I went right away to one of the workers there and told him. He said that he was off duty and was heading out, but that he would let somebody know. I stuck around to see - nothing! He left. So I went to the cashier (the only worker I could find at the time) and informed him. Again, I was told that he would contact the appropriate person. I stuck around a while longer and still didn't see anybody going to check on the tiels.

Finally, I had to leave and went to through the register with the same cashier (only one open) and there were people behind me. I very loudly said, as I was checking out, for him to make sure that somebody checks on that tiel that is "bleeding to death" in the cage. Startled him and I know some people at the checkout line were looking concerned now.

I didn't know if he hever did send somebody, but I just went ahead and called my local Animalshelter- the animal cruetly line and talked to a person there. Although they told me that they couldn't do anything, they would contact the appropriate authorities for me and took down my name and info in case somebody from there needed to get in contact with me.

I don't know if anything was ever done, but I went back the next day after work and the tiel was gone.

- Sorry didn't mean to hijack your thread, but just wanted to point out that this happens in a lot of these big-chain-petstores and for the most part, just telling the workers there isn't helping much, because they just wait until you're gone and leave the poor animals helpless. Just try to contact as many authorities in your area as you can, but I think the Dept. of Agrigulture is the one that oversees this.

I wrote the LA Humane Society and nothing yet. I will call the customer service line for Pet's Mart Monday and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and see what happens. it's so frustrating to bother to do something about this and nothing probably will get done. It sucks and just pisses me off to the infinite extent