HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Our Little Flock rescue is run out of Michele Vice's home. It all started when her and her family, "just kind of went down the path of having pet birds and then people kept reaching out and saying, 'Oh, I know you have a bird and I need to rehome my bird,'" Vice said.
Throughout her experience rescuing birds, she's connected with other rescues, like My Flying Fids that's run by Michele Riemersma in Georgia.
Something they both see a lot is, "People misunderstand what they're getting into. And that's how we end up with all of these birds," Riemersma said.
In August, Vice was alerted of a bird for sale at the Madison Petco located off of Highway-72 West.
"I was contacted through social media, someone asking me, 'Hey, would you kind of go and check on this bird? I really feel like they're sick. Something's going on,'" Vice said.
When she made her way to the store and saw the bird, she, "knew instantly there was something off."
Employees at the store told her they would be taking the bird to the vet, although it wouldn't be an avian vet.
She came back a couple of days later and they told her the bird received a clean bill of health, that there was absolutely nothing wrong with this bird.
During this time, when speaking with one of the managers, "I was told that 'I'm just tired of people coming in here and asking me about this bird,'" Vice said.
Riemersma added that during Vice's inquiries about the bird, "She got so much pushback from everybody she talked to. And I mean, really, she was just trying to help."
Vice and her social media followers later raised money to buy the bird from Petco and on the morning of August 15th, she took the bird home.
Since she had only had the bird for a short-while she was temporarily naming her "Little Buddy" and took her to an avian vet for further testing. The rescue says that birds don’t always show their illnesses like other animals do as they are very good at hiding how sick they might be, so an avian vet is the best place to take them.
"She came back home to me around 5 p.m. and then about 24 hours later, she was gone."
Vice says she felt it was important to get a necropsy done. When the report was ready it showed them, "She was a chronically underweight bird. She had a small amount of metal in her system. And she was dehydrated with little body fat." Vice said.
Both Vice and Riemersma believe Little Buddy was not being properly cared for by Petco.
"It's not just one bird. You hear stories like this all the time from people who bought a bird from a big box pet store and have gotten it home and it's either passed away or it's been so sick," Riemersma said.
Vice says she reached out to Petco after Little Buddy's death, and they said she would be refunded and that they would conduct an investigation.
FOX54 reached out to Petco for a statement in which they said:
PETCO STATEMENT
At Petco, our commitment to the health and wellness of every pet in our care is unwavering. Our high standards for animal care, developed and constantly reviewed by our veterinary staff and backed by an independent panel of experts, have been certified by American Humane, the world’s largest certifier of animal welfare. We take animal care concerns very seriously. Any matter reported to us is investigated and appropriate action is taken to understand and resolve the situation. Little Buddy’s case is no exception. A thorough investigation showed, while in our care, Little Buddy was evaluated by a veterinarian who reported no abnormal findings following their assessment. We are saddened to learn of Little Buddy’s untimely passing and, in an effort to help, we refunded their pet parent.
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Vice and Riemersma say they know places like Petco won't stop selling birds, but they want to see a change in how the employees care for them.
"Their diet, it's not just bag food that you buy at the store, it's fresh veggies and fruits as well....helping to educate their employees a little bit better on knowing the signs that they should be looking for with these birds or any other exotic," Vice said.
"Or even hiring a bird specific employee," Riemersma added.
They both say they are determined to continue advocating for birds and bird care education.