PETITION TARGET: New York Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Donna A. Lupardo
Birds in pet stores often come from cruel breeding operations, where they are confined to barren cages and forcibly separated from their newborn chicks. Others are taken from their natural habitats using glue-covered branches or nets, with chicks torn from nests and left with injuries due to inexperienced handlers.
After they’re bought, they’re regularly left alone in small cages, with little interaction or enrichment to keep their minds engaged. Without proper guidance on how to care for birds, many suffer neglect and abuse, engage in stress-related self-harm, and are typically surrendered within three years.
Thankfully, New York Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal recently introduced a bill that would ban the sale of birds in retail pet stores across the state, aside from some domesticated species.
If enacted, Assembly Bill A8327 would prohibit pet shops from selling “all live birds except domesticated game birds” and “chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, peafowl and pigeons.”
However, pet stores may still work with shelters and rescues to showcase adoptable birds and help find them homes.
Having already banned the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores, New York now has the opportunity to further reduce suffering by protecting birds as well.
These sensitive, intelligent, and social animals deserve better than to be treated like products, kept in isolation, and discarded at shelters when their needs can’t be met — all while being denied the chance to fly free.
Sign our petition urging the New York Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair to pass this bill and stop the sale of birds in retail pet stores statewide.
