The segment shown on The Today Show was edited from a longer video, part of which shows a cockatoo chick dying without medical care over the course of 45 days. The investigator kept asking if he could adopt her, but he was refused.

Click the link below to see the entire video and read the undercover investigator's account of conditions at Rainbow Exotics in Houston, a breeder/supplier which PetSmart buys birds and small animals from. The Video is disturbing. If you don't want to view it you can still read part of the investigators notes, and get involved in a letter writing campaign if you desire.

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/petsmart_investigation

I hope this exposure brings down this empire!

That was painful to watch. I had to turn away from it. I signed the petition. I am not a PETA fan but when they do undercover video's they force us to see the ugly side of humans and for that I applaud them.

Thank you for posting this Echosmom. I don't usually watch these because I do find them disturbing and simply being horrified helps no one.

However, PetSmart is a large company that has stores in numerous provinces and states around North America. MyToos.com is dedicated to the wellbeing of cockatoos specifically. Petsmart was/is(?) involved in the Kaytee bird mills.

Can we not simply ask all of our (how many Jerry?) seven kajillion members to stop shopping there? Can we not say, as a group,

"yes we're here for cockatoos, BUT petsmart is terrible for cockatoos AND hamsters and we choose not to support the philosophies, attitudes and ethical mores that treat not only birds, but all animals in this atrocious way. We may even agree that some PetSmart stores try harder than others to be decent, BUT as a whole, the profits go back to the larger company that we choose not to have anything at all ever to do with because we don't pay our hard earned money to people who treat animals that way."

Okay, it's wordy. It could be tweaked.

Now. My question, just to be devil's advocate is: Do we know if the footage is true? I know that a bunch of PETA members have been busted staging some pretty awful stuff to 'make a point'. I'm afraid I don't entirely trust PETA's veracity.

Saying that, if it's true, I'd happy to start a letter or see if I could get a petition on petition.com for everyone to sign (it can' be so hard) to send them.

Quote: "Now. My question, just to be devil's advocate is: Do we know if the footage is true? I know that a bunch of PETA members have been busted staging some pretty awful stuff to 'make a point'. I'm afraid I don't entirely trust PETA's veracity."

I'm unaware of the situation in which you refer of PETA members getting "busted" for staging videos. I would love to know about those instances for my own information.

I am neither supporting nor condemning the organization which made the video. It is what it is, you can take action or not. It is an individual and personal decision, however I do not find it useful to spread rumors that are unvalidated.

this is horrible. and it was very difficult to watch. i dont understand really why petsmart dont just stop selling live animals. i would think they make most of their money off of supplies and food. i am glad i seen this. i was going to petsmart this weekend for simon's pellets. not now. i will go to the little old lady with all her pet birds that sells bird supplies and buy. i was thinking of that anyway. i have to find a different pellet anyway. i didnt know about the whole thing with kaytee until recently and the pellet simon was eating was from kaytee (exact) so now that it's time to buy more i need something different.

Here is Angels story in case you did not see it on the PETA website. One of the most heartbreaking things I have ever seen. Please, everyone write to Petsmart. We have to do something. This happens everyday, in pet smarts, petcos, pet shops all over the country. It is time to make a stand!

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/01/petsmart_cruelt_1.php

It was just on the news a week or so ago. I will try to look it up. I'm about to go to bed now, so I'll have to do it later. It does make me question them some as much as I am against unethical treatment of animals.

Recently there was a show on HBO, interviewing Ingrid Newkirk the founder of PETA. The show was called I Am An Animal. She is very open about the illegal activities of PETA and doesn't hide it. As a matter of fact they showed videos of some of their actions. They also support ALF and showed videos of their actions. I'm leery of their preachings they could do alot of good for animal welfare but choose to do it outside the law and to make it as contraversial as possible to get more coverage. I think in the long run they hurt themselves and their message. Nancy

Ugh that's pretty horrible. The Petsmart (and related things like Petland) take very good care of their animals. The worst pet store I've seen is one located in a mall and it's not as bad as some things I've seen online. It's depressing how the people who own and work at these places just don't care..

Besides that... I'm completely against PETA and the ALF. Not because I dislike animals or anything, but because they do the wrong things and are just nuts. They always go after the tiniest percentage to show how horrible things are (such as finding the absolute worst ranch they can and saying "oh well they are ALL like this"). The ALF also tends to make the problem worse, by stealing, vandalizing and hurting people.

These groups are just small-scale terrorists. If you want something done about the abuse of animals, you have to go about it properly. Doing it by force will never, EVER work. The worst is their treatment of other human beings. Many ALF/PETA members have repeatedly said that they don't care about people.. I've seen some say they would rather let labs test drugs (and whatever) on human children instead of on lab rats.

But anyway, I'm getting way off topic now so I'll stop ^^;;

For me, this isn't about "PETA" - it's about animal neglect and abuse - and about those that support it - either directly, or indirectly. I consider PETA to be "over the top" in many of their views, BUT there is NO EXCUSE for the images seen in these videos and we need to do something about it. One of the most sickening things for me is knowing that what we saw in these videos is happening everyday across the nation...regardless of what groups are involved - whether it be PETA - PetSmart - or whoever!

I watched this and, obviously, found it horrible to watch. But what struck me, though I know the investigator must have been overwhelmed, she just filmed this poor baby dying for 45 days. I think I would have just grabbed the bird and left as soon as I would have been afforded the opportunity. I realize her purpose was to save "the multitudes" by getting PetSmart to stop the sale of these animals, but at the same time, what about the one that died before her very eyes. It wasn't like it was a quick, instant death, like so many of the small, furries in the video, but Angel died such a slow and preventable death. The investigator could have done something. I don't know how you could love animals so much, and let that one die. Any thoughts anyone?

I am not going to get into a debate about PETA, as I said, I'm not a big fan of their tactics, but as EchosMom said, this is not about PETA really. They just happened to be the ones who conducted this undercover operation and regardless of how I feel about their tactics and motives, what we saw speaks for itself.

This has to stop and if it takes PETA to bring it out into the light, so be it.

We may not be able to win the war against breeding right now, but we CAN pick our battles and try to win a few of them. This is one battle we can win if we get the word out and expose this animal/bird mill to the public.

If we are able to at least make Petsmart stop using this disgusting mill and help get the mill shut down, then we have won a battle and we move on to the next...baby steps.

We may be able to at the very least, save the animals that are at this moment being abused, tortured and neglected at this one facility and that's a start.

EchosMom I agree with you and apologize for leading the thread in to a topic about PETA. That ranch does need to be shut down. We need to get stronger legislation in place to combat the amount of animal abuse that we are seeing in this country. The number and types of animals that are being bred for the pet trade is absurd. You can buy anything you want in this country today regardless of the status of the animal. There are exotic pet breeders out there that you can legally purchase animals that are critically endangered. I made the huge mistake of working at a large chain pet store for a couple of months a few years ago. If people could see the treatment that the animals recieve in these stores they'ld be sickened. Regardless of the stores policies you have teenagers caring for animals that are clueless on the proper care required or just too lazy to provide it. Nancy

I was thinking the same exact thing, and I know I could not have watched that bird die over such a long period of time. I would have snatched it up and taken it out.

BUT...I guess that would defeat the purpose of showing the neglect to the point that they allowed this bird to die and had the investigator "saved" the bird, the bird mill would be able to deny that they were going to allow it to die.

It's not something I could do, but I do "get" why it was done this way. The harsh reality is that bird died while in their care and they did nothing to prevent it's death.

I just hope that poor baby didn't die in vain, and that we are able to stop the abuse/neglect and cruelty in Angel's name.

Tina, your questions are very valid.

But, there is a logical, although heartwrenching, answer to your question..."The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the one". Sad, but true. That "one" baby, will hopefully save the lives of many others....IF we take a stand.


I'd make a terrible investigative reporter because I would have snatched that baby too!

I have one. Someone has to document this kind of thing and show it to the world. As Echo's Mom said, this happens all over the nation every day. The general pubic needs to know. We should spend our time seeing to that by spreading it everywhere we can. These kinds of awakening moments are not created by weaklings. I'm sure it was extremely distasteful and disgusting to the documenter but it is no different than us trying to get people to take purchased, baby cockatoos back to the breeders and stores that sold them.

I'm not fussing at you here but some baby cockatoos are going to suffer and die. Their deaths, when detailed like this, help in some small way to prevent more from suffering the same fate, or worse. We, here, are a small group of dedicated caretakers; we are the minority. Most people don't have a clue what they are doing and their birds suffer terribles days for years on end.

PETA aside, if we just sit around and tsk, tsk when we see these images, we are just as bad as the perpetrators. Show these things to people you know! Explain things to people you know. Write letters and be outraged and do something! That documenter did a distasteful and possibly dangerous job and that chick died a slow and completely unnatural death. Did they have to endure all that for nothing? I sure hope not.

Let's face it, no matter what anyone thinks of PeTa (I sympathize with many of their campaigns, but don't always like everything they do), there's *no* defending how that cockatoo was treated in the video, or any of the other things their animal mill suppliers do. That was seriously disturbing...

Interestingly, any caring person I've ever met who likes animals and trys working at a pet store that sells animals ends up quitting in disgust. In stores, even if the animals seem well-cared for, that's rarely the case for sick animals kept in the back room, or for the breeding animals at the animal mills many pet shops get their animals from.

If enough people boycott the store and write letters, something could be done. A lot of stores do not sell puppies because a lot of serious dog people won't shop at stores that sells puppies. That's why PetsMart does not sell puppies. Let's try to see the same thing happen with the rest of the animals.

Ok, I don't think I can watch this video, but I will sign a petition if someone knows of one. I personally have stopped buying any pet supplies from stores that sell animals. We have a chain here called "Pet Supplies Plus" that has gotten rid of ALL animals, even fish, and they have reasonable prices.

I don't want to support a business that contributes to the abuse or neglect of animals. Also, I have a hard time walking away from the animals, even though I know it just makes the problem worse, so I just can't go in them -I'm afraid I'll cave and end up with a sympathy purchase -I KNOW my weaknesses.