Went to PetCo for my chi girl, Roxy.....

[Beanurita]

......and of course had to see what birdies they had:straightface:......they had 3 normal GCC, a turquoise GCC, a grey tiel, and lots of budgies!! I noticed 2 little beauties (not that they weren't all beauties) but the ones that caught my eye were almost pure white! One girl had a tinge of powder blue and the other one a tinge of light grey!! Fell in love with the white and grey girl! After looking at the others playing I noticed one was not playing at all - in fact she seemed to be leaning to one side. So after a closer look at her I noticed her whole leg looked more "red" compared to the other leg. I found an associate and asked to see the bird! She took her out and inspected her together only to realize that her upper leg (next to her body) was bloody I immediately asked what was going to happen to her! The hurt leg is also the banded leg!! They let me come into the "hospital" room while they told me she would be watched closely and most likely be seen by the get tomorrow. The manager came in at that time to look at her and confirmed she would be seeing the vet for sure due to the type of injury she had. They told me what happens next is determined by the vet.....I don't like the sound of that! Doesnt sound very positive! I immediately told them that I would take her myself and get the care she needed but they "couldn't" sell her to me because she injured herself!! I reiterated that regardless of her injury or what the vet said I would take her and will be calling first thing in the AM!! My heart is hurting for her since I had to leave her there........makes me sick to know that I could have provided better medical care but I wasn't allowed to take her home! I totally would have taken care of her medical bill and nursed her to health giving her a great home with my budgie flock! I still will if they agree to let me give her a home - injury and all!!!

Here is a poor sad picture of her in her "dirty" hospital set up!! Makes me sick that they put her in an unhealthy unclean environment that will only cause infections to her wound when they may have been to avoid further complications had they put her in a clean environment or let me take her home!!!!

 

[Birdbabe]

Omg! Poor baby. Prayers for her.

 

[SandraK]

Last year I took a tiel who had definite serious health problems - neurological - and PetSmart had me sign a paper saying that I was taking this bird and could not hold PetSmart responsible or liable for any veterinary bills or reimbursement. Sadly, the little tiel name Hope was eventually put to sleep after several weeks of treatment. Even in a safe, controlled environment with food, water and medication she wasn't thriving. She wasn't eating on her own and whenever she was approached by a human became extremely agitated as well as disoriented.

Dr. Sakas' practice believed that she had suffered some kind of severe head injury which affected her motor and cognitive skills, and there was no way to repair the injury.

If you can, your best bet is to ask to speak to the manager of the bird section and ask to take this fid "home" with you and not hold the store responsible for your expenses. Do it as quickly as possible, run don't walk out of the store and never return.

This is based solely on my experience with PetSmart so the store you are dealing with may be different. Bless you for trying.

 

[CeciliaZ]

Poor little girl - hoping the best for her.

 

[Beanurita]

I plan on calling them again tonight and will be showing up at their door step in the AM

 

[Kellie728]

I plan on calling them again tonight and will be showing up at their door step in the AM

Good for you

 

[rocky'smom]

poor baby, hope you can rescue her. (Nasty looking hospital cage, gross me out)

 

[Beanurita]

poor baby, hope you can rescue her. (Nasty looking hospital cage, gross me out)

I agree!! It's disgusting!!!

 

[Jaguar]

Sadly this is the reality of pet store animals. It is more cost efficient for them to euthanize sick/injured animals than provide treatment and medication. Of course, there's some leeway with individual store management, but treating a sick or injured budgie costs as much as 10 new ones.

I also don't see how the hospital cage is "gross". From the photo, it just looks like an aquarium with hard water staining, which is just leftover calcium/magnesium deposits from evaporated water.

You need to stay calm and collected if you want to help this bird. Causing a scene is going to make them less willing to work with you.

 

[pinkdagger]

The sad reality is that while the store employees and certainly prospective customers have their heartstrings pulled, PetCo as a whole doesn't care about their animals, like most chain pet stores that aren't housing animals on behalf of rescues. If the vet determines the next step is euthanasia because the environment is unsuitable for a bird to heal from that kind of injury, that's what? $20 they lose? A new one will be shipped in, in due time to flash its cute face and earn PetCo the $20. A couple weeks of Baytril costs more than that, and paying someone to take the time to administer it or clean a wound costs them more than $20 too. It's callous, but it's a corporation and dollars say more than animals will ever be able to.

But in that same vein, this is something you have to prepare yourself for before making any rash decisions. I remember your post about not being able to afford a suitable cage for Kenzie when you brought her home, which wasn't ideal either. If that was an issue, surely bringing home a new injured budgie that you would then have to house and vet out of pocket (not just testing, but an existing issue) is not something I would go jumping into. We have to realize that we can't save them all, or that perhaps they would be better suited for someone who can bring them home and front the cost without any sacrifice for their current pets, or any worrisome burdens on you personally. Those who are most caring can also be the most impulsive because if something speaks to us, we can easily go running in blindly. Impulsive purchases are exactly how big chain pet stores make money, whether it's because someone decided that animal would make an adorable new pet, or because they wanted to be their hero.

I would say to take your business elsewhere. This is the exact reason a lot of people boycott these big stores altogether. If you really are devoted to taking this specific bird and getting her all the care she needs, don't make it a favour for PetCo. Don't offer to buy her and vet her yourself. Make it a mission to see to it she's getting adequate care from an avian vet in a clean and calm environment, or else. In the end, it may be a losing battle anyway.

 

[SandraK]

I'll add this footnote to Hope's story - since she was ill when she arrived as part of a shipment to PetSmart of several different types of critters, she was never entered into inventory because they were afraid she'd die (or have to be put down) and that would reflect as a loss on their profit & loss margin.

 

[starrynightxxi]

Company policy is very clear, they cannot sell you that bird until it has been seen and cleared by the vet.

Why doesn't "The next step will be determined by the vet" sound like a good thing? Isn't that exactly what would happen if you took her home? You'd take her to the vet and determine the next step from there? You could have asked what vet they use if you were concerned, it's most likely the vet whose number they give out when people purchase animals and fill out the paperwork. At the store where I work, our vet has two practices and treats animals at two local zoos, this is not a person who just euthanizes animals willy-nilly because it's cheapest, and that is not the company's policy either. While not all stores have that kind of experience available to them, I'm sure their vet is quite capable.

As for the holding tank, I couldn't say for sure, but I would bet that those are just hard water stains. Ours get them, too, in spite of complete disinfecting between each animal.

 

[Beanurita]

@pinkdagger I understand that this is the harsh reality of chain stores and I do plan on making sure she get the care she needs.....I haven't made any rash depictions in this matter other than checking in and making she she is getting to the vet. I get that the vet bill may be more that the cost of the bird in which PetCo can say euthanize instead of treat her! I'm just so saddened by the treatment of an otherwise health bird that cost less than the treatment is treated!! It makes me sick! But I will be following up with them about her because......well the little bird deserve to have a voice which in this case mine!!

As far as Kenzie goes - she will be home later this week and her current housing here will be a 20x20x34 cage which is still a good size for her but it is my preference for all of my birds to be in a HQ flight cage......Can I afford that at this time? No! Will I get her one in time? Heck YES! Why? Because she deserves it and "bigger is better" after all!! All my birds have castles as well as out of cage play time through out the day so I'm not concerned so much as to if Kenzie will be happy because she most definitely will be.....if I had any doubts in her happiness with me, I would not give her a place in my home!

@Jaguar I understand that the spots may look like water spots of sorts but I was in the room that is their "wellness" room and not only was the cage which she was put in dirty but so we're the rest of the cages in the room - the area as a whole was dirty and stinky!

I have been very polite and concerned with my interactions in regards to this bird no freaking out here!! At least in front of them

 

[rocky'smom]

JMO, I hate Petco with purple passion. the store nearest me, make me throw up in my mouth everytime i walk into it. i have talked to the manager until i'm blue in the face. it does no good. everytime i walk in again, it's the same Blanky blank problem, no solution. they could care less.
good luck Melissa i hope you get her out of there.

 

[Beanurita]

I don't like PetCo any more than most people here on AA.....I was there only for my chi dog for a........well, it doesn't matter what I was there for...... but I made the mistake of looking at the birds! They (PetCo) didn't even realize that she was hurt.....who knows, maybe if I hadnt stopped by to look at the birds "nobody" would have realized she was hurt and then it definitely would have been to late to help/save her but because I did "look" at the birds she has a better chance at making it!

 

[fluffypoptarts]

I think a lot of us try to avoid supporting the pet stores and stick to adopting birds, but sometimes it just happens that you can't walk away. We have all been there. I hope the little one gets the help she needs.

 

[nellysmom]

I worked for Petco at one time and unfortunately everything comes down to $$$. It may not be cost effective to spend money on vet bills for such a little and I hate to say it "inexpensive" bird. Don't be surprized if they tell you she passed away. If you really want to pursue this call the corporate office and ask to be connected to the person in charge of small animals or the regional manager for that store and state your case. Good luck

 

[Pentameter]

The store I work for (not for much longer, thank the bird god) takes animals to the vet and treats them if at all possible. Unfortunately, many of the animals they receive are in poor condition upon arrival and even if the store takes good care of them, they have underlying issues. Plus, the stores will often schedule animal care workers for as little time as possible, meaning they can't see to everything every day (I usually end up with 4 hour animal care shifts, which is not nearly enough time to properly clean everything). Workers can also get in trouble or even fired for violating company policy.

Examples:
-I got yelled at because I put the reptiles on reptile carpet, which is less likely to cause impaction or become riddled with infectious organisms, because "the company policy says they're fine on sand\cocoa mulch, etc."
-We can't keep the birds on newspaper or paper towel because "it's not company policy," so we use "feline pine" instead
-We got a cockatiel with an obvious eye infection. I told the management he needed to see the vet. They said "we'll try treating it here with some OTC products," and two weeks later it was not better, so they finally agreed to send him to the vet. With GOOD medicine, he got better.
-We lost THREE lovebirds in the space of a week due to some condition they came with... there were no wounds or signs of trauma. Either they died from stress or infectious disease, and the bodies were never tested.
-Our most recent shipment of bunnies had coccidia. We started with 12 bunnies, who arrived in a filthy wire cage. We can't switch suppliers because "company policy." We are down to 3 bunnies, who are now being medicated (but only after we lost all the others).

Even if I goad the management constantly, and even if they listen, the suppliers still suck. I am going to be so glad to leave in the fall. I'd do it now if I could find a job elsewhere...

 

[rocky'smom]

@Beanurita did you get that bird out of Petco??

 

[LunaHestia]

Any news about this baby?