Carnival Abuse of Budgies
September 12th, 2009Mike
I recently visited a carnival/street fair in my neighborhood and was appalled to see a game with a budgie offered as the prize. It was like put money on a number, they spin the wheel, and if you win you get a budgie. They had a couple cages no bigger than my budgie Duke’s cage but with like 30 birds crammed in each. They were literally crammed in shoulder to shoulder with no room to turn. Normally, when crammed in tight spaces birds will fight for territory but these were crammed so tight that even fighting was not possible. The budgies looked lean and sickly. They were not active but then again there was no room to be active. Even though seeds were served in abundance, it looked like access to them was restricted by countless bodies so feeding must be tough. The conditions looked in no way sanitary. The players and even employees would stand around the bird cages smoking and poisoning the birds’ air supply. But all of this is not even the worst of it.
Carnival game: spin the wheel to win a budgie
The kinds of people who might play the game and win one would be clueless what to do with it. I found out that even if you win a bird, it doesn’t come with cage or feed, just the bird in the box. They have some cages hanging around that they try to sell to people who win a bird but there were only a few cages available and many more birds. I am afraid that these birds are doomed to a poor life because the people who “win” one aren’t giving it the same thought and care as someone who specifically goes out to a breeder or bird store with the knowledge and specific intent of buying a bird to care for. While perhaps some of these birds could get lucky and make their way into good homes, I am sad to say that most will not receive that kind of life.
The people who would participate in such games are going from game to game winning teddy bears for their girlfriend or kid. Parrots should be brought into households that are prepared for the tasks required for bird ownership, not just by the flick of a wheel and fortune. This is a live animal and more than that, a social animal that needs special care. There were also two other games that let people win a fish or iguana and while I think those are in danger as well, the birds moreso. We did a game and won a goldfish and we actually won 4 last year. I didn’t keep the fish but I gave them to someone I know who has a fish tank and takes good care. The birds on the other hand need special care and social attention. Someone who wins one at a fair could not possibly know how to take care of it, feed it, groom it, socialize it, train it, and occupy it with toys. At least when people buy them in a store there is a chance for the salesperson to try to upsell them into buying necessary supplies.
While I don’t believe there should be government involvement or regulation of captive bred bird sales, I do think that stores, breeders, or other bird vendors have the responsibility to give people the complete rundown on ownership of the bird. Unfortunately stores don’t want to scare away their buyers so they just make it look all great and fun and people don’t realize what they are getting themselves into. Someone on youtube messaged me saying that they got a 14 month old sun conure yesterday and that it seemed nice yesterday but went on a biting/destruction rampage today. I told them something like “the bird was just being shy yesterday and sounds more at home today, welcome to owning one…”
Say no more...
While it was tempting to try to win a budgie because I really like these birds, I refused to support such cruelty and blatant negligence. Nobody plays to lose, but I didn’t want to risk winning a bird and then contaminating my flock or having it die on my watch because it was undernourished to begin with. It’s an unfortunate case and I feel terrible for the birds and even for the people who might win them. I wouldn’t be surprised, sadly, that most (or all) of those budgies be dead within a year. Carnival prizes are rarely kept around for very long.
I agree with all that you said. I work in a pet store and there are a lot of people that are “impulse” buying so I make sure to tell them the time and work involved with keeping a bird. I even tell them that birds can be very messy and that stops a lot of them. LOL. With budgies especially, I remind them that they are intelligent and loving companion birds, not cage birds like finches. I even ask if they know an Avian vet because they need check ups just like our dogs and cats and most say, “I did not know that they needed to go to the doctor”. It’s funny, most people ask the same question: “Do they talk?” I tell them that all birds can talk but it is up to them if they want to. As for the sun conure I do not think the person did any research about the bird and is expecting it to be their instant companion, that takes trust building, time and patience. Some people just don’t get it and it is very frustrating. I have 27 birds of my own and several are from people that could not keep them anymore and had no one to take them. I have learned to say no because my flock needs my time and attention and too many birds limit the time we have together. I hate to do that because I want to know that they will not be neglected or abused. I have a green cheek that was a second hand bird and she drove me crazy for a couple months. It has been two years now and she is my best buddy but it took a lot of time and trust building. Selling conures is the hardest for me because they are sooo smart and adoring that people want them but do not want to listen to any advice, how hard can it be, it’s just a bird. Conures are nippy birds. Breeding season is usually a very nippy time and there is molting time grouchiness. I could go on and on.
Robin, I think you are probably more of an exception than the rule. While you work at a pet store, you also rescue unwanted birds so you only want to see them sold into good homes. However, I don’t think this is the case for most pet store employees. Either they don’t care at all and don’t know anything about what they are selling (often the case) or they are knowledgeable but just trying to move stock and upsell the customer. It is a natural contradiction to try to scare your customers from buying what you are selling but that’s the way it has to be done. On first sight customers could never realize how demanding a Sun Conure can really be. While ideally customers would come in already informed about the bird they seek to buy, this clearly is not the case and it’s impossible to pre-inform everyone. That is why it is important that pet stores take the responsibility of informing the customers of all the downsides to pet ownership as well. Perhaps if pet stores were required to take back unwanted birds, they would think twice about who they sell them to!