Undercover cameras document 1,400 dead parakeets, horrifying conditions in Ohio breeding operation

PETA says it spent three months inside an abusive parakeet breeding operation in a supply network connected to Petland. The report includes horrifying conditions, filthy cages, and decapitated birds.

TCD has not independently verified the allegations, but the undercover video has intensified scrutiny of the operation.

The breeder in question is the Ohio-based Creekside Birds.

What happened?

According to The Scioto Valley Guardian's account of PETA's claims, investigators counted nearly 10,000 parakeets at Creekside Birds and documented about 1,400 deaths over 27 days. PETA said the business breeds parakeets and sells them to a wholesale chain that includes a distributor tied to Petland, with birds kept in cramped, dirty cages.

PETA claimed that birds considered unsellable were moved into designated sick cages and killed if they did not recover within one to two weeks. The group also alleged that sick and injured birds went weeks without veterinary treatment.

PETA said video footage shows scenes that The Guardian described as too graphic to publish in full. The group alleged that workers killed birds by throwing them to the ground, crushing their necks, and, in some cases, decapitating them while they were still alive.

Why does it matter?

PETA said that it submitted evidence to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and wants Petland to stop selling live animals.

PETA's release said the welfare committee co-chair for the Association of Avian Veterinarians reportedly reviewed the footage and described the facility as "a culling facility focused entirely on maximizing profits with a complete disregard for life."

Another veterinarian, with more than three decades in avian medicine, called the video "the most despicable, inhumane, and reprehensive representations of animal welfare," per The Guardian.

Petland had not released a public comment.

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