Hi to everyone who reads this. I want to share with you my experience of the budgerigar hobby and the commercial world of pet shops and how interconnected all of life is.

 

I discovered budgies because of my local pet shop.

 

If that pet shop had not been there, I would never have discovered budgies. I would never have discovered many things about them and the fact that they can learn to speak in context, they have their own little personalities, likes and dislikes just like we do. I would never have discovered the range of emotions of happiness to sorrow, joy to despair that these little creatures have brought into my life.

If I had not discovered budgies that would have been a real shame because they gave me a reason to get up in the morning.

(Sun rises.....budgies start shrieking.....want to attend to budgies.....you get the picture).

 

After I discovered budgies, I researched them online and discovered my local budgie club which I joined, then I discovered that I really enjoyed budgies so much that I wanted to study, breed and exhibit them.

If not for that pet shop, I would never have discovered my local club, all the other breeders of budgerigars, the social life to be engaged, budgerigar science and genetics, mutavi research group, the australian national budgerigar exhibition, this forum, the world budgerigar organisation, even a whole religion based on talking budgies. (Don't laugh, people have based religions and spiritual pursuits on all sorts of things).

 

I breed budgies because I love them, but I can't keep the extra birds that I don't want to breed with. They are better to be loved and cared for by someone else, to give that person an opportunity to experience little budgie wonders, and to give that budgie a better opportunity for more intensive human contact and learning to communicate with humans that I can't provide. Any money I make from selling my surplus birds goes straight back into feeding and caring for my birds...and then some.

It is a hobby, it costs money and takes time and effort, and cleaning up poo, and has health risks to the breeder, it is something that few people would do if they didn't enjoy it.

 

I like that I am able to sell my surplus birds to my local pet shops. And, after experiencing selling them myself, I really don't mind that the pet shop staff sell them for a quality value added price, because they have an important job to do, and they have houses, and children and bills to pay for as well. People are looking for quality, and if people pay a bit more for something of quality they are likely to value it more and take better care of it, and it is less likely to end up dumped or mistreated.

 

I hate that we live in a material world but that is the reality that collectively we have created and we must navigate through. I like that I can recover some of the costs from my hobby. I experienced selling my surplus budgies through advertisements in newspapers and trading online etc, but after fielding dozens of phone calls and having dozens of people traipse through my private residence, and repeating the same information over and over again to people, sometimes several times, I decided that I didn't have the time or energy to deal both with that and look after my birds as well.

 

After that experience, I decided that breeding budgies is really what I wanted to do. I did not want to spend time selling them when I could otherwise spend that time observing them, playing with them, teaching them tricks, reading about them etc. Selling budgies and educating the public about them was for someone else... not me.

 

So I approached my local pet shop owner and developed a relationship with one person (much more efficient than fielding dozens of phone calls) and helped that person who had very little knowledge of budgies and was new to running a pet shop to manage the live budgies better. I am even going to involve that pet shop now with promoting my club to the public when they sell my budgies, to get more people involved in learning about budgies. My viewpoint is that we must strive to educate and help our pet shop owners do the right thing, because they look after us, they promote birds to the public, they educate the public, they provide a valuable service to us to find a purpose for surplus budgies. (Believe me how sad it is for a budgie with no purpose, to be neglected or mistreated.) And, rather than condemning and destroying the pet shop owners, help them in a manner that is understanding, caring and constructive, even if it means spending an extra ten minutes with your pet shop owner to help them clean out a cage, water and food dishes and share some of your pearls of budgie wisdom with them. Remember, pet shop owners are just trying to navigate through life like we all are.

 

I write this today to the forum because I just debated it with someone who was organising a petition to stop all pet shops from selling live animals. I see the viewpoint of unwanted pets that are destroyed by the RSPCA every year and though the intention of the petition is good, I refused to sign or be involved with this petition, and I think after hearing me out from my point of view, they are re-thinking their approach. The reality of budgie breeding is that surplus birds are produced, and what happens to those birds that are unwanted if they can't be sold at pet shops?

Incidentally I was also talking to a man today who told me about how the regulation of the wheat, egg and sugar industries had been partially responsible for destroying the quality of those industries and making it really difficult for people to make their livelihood out of farming and providing those foods and products... as a result farmland is converted to residential areas, less production of quality foods, we all suffer health problems, inflation and higher prices... sound familiar? Over-regulation creates problems of its own, better to do the right thing in the first place so there is no need for such regulation. How might this apply to the hobby of budgies...

 

If my local pet shop had not been there to sell me my first live budgie, there is so much richness of life in all its pain and glory that I never would have discovered. If my local pet shop is not allowed to sell live birds then I lose the service that pet shop provides to me to sell my birds, then I have to sell them myself which takes up more time and I can't enjoy my hobby as I would like to. I don't want my home to be a pet shop and have the public traipsing through my home. I just want to breed and enjoy my budgies. I love my local pet shop for providing this service to me and giving me this opportunity to learn and to engage life.

 

I want to remind people of how interconnected we all are. What you do to another you do to yourself. If they suffer, eventually you suffer. I agree that there are problems. It is the easiest thing to point the finger, blame, condemn them all to ***, tar them all with the same brush, crucify them, burn them at the stake, and sign petitions and hand over your own personal authority and responsibility to someone else.

(I have been just as guilty of doing this as the next person, but I changed when I realised I would not like someone to do this to me.) Does it really change anything or make it better? It is much harder to take back your personal responsibility and make it your business to help someone else out if you see that there is a better or easier way of doing it and you can help them implement a better system and encourage them to do it well. I know this is hard work but please consider doing this and changing the approach to problems from an attack response to a nuture response. In all aspects of your life, it really will change the world.

 

I believe that good pet shops are pivotal as a point of contact for the public for information about caring for pets, and that pets are an important part of understanding life on earth. Certainly this has been my experience.

If we close down the pet shops and sale of live pets, we close down all the tremendous opportunities available to us to learn by this avenue. Far better to help our pet shop owners to be successful, to do the right thing, and to create more opportunity. Don't you think???

Edited April 27, 200817 yr by DrNat

Very well said. Thank you for that.

Well spoken DrNat. You obviously have a good relationship with your local pet shop. It would be nice if all pet shops were as open to education, I have worked in a number and sadly there are many that just don't care.

Well spoken DrNat. You obviously have a good relationship with your local pet shop. It would be nice if all pet shops were as open to education, I have worked in a number and sadly there are many that just don't care.

 

Yes, that can be a sad situation. Again the power and responsibility rests with breeders to choose for their birds to go to good pet shops. Even better if you work in a pet shop, make them do the right thing by changing their system for them. They pay employees to do work to make their life easier, and I would say that fielding customer complaints is less easy than looking after the animals. Point this out to management.

A system or business will be forced to change otherwise it will collapse and fail if the people (suppliers, employees, customers) no longer support it. If you realise it is good then continue your support, if you realise it is bad then discontinue your support and choose another path. This applies to so many things in life.

Take back your personal power people and use it for good!!!

This is a very good point you've made here DrNat... I sell to the local petshop aswell as private sale. Luckily enough for us the lady who owns it pays good price as we sell young tame birds to her only for $20ea. When i sell to a pet shop i am content because i know the owners of it, the care and know anyone who buys it from a shop like you said genuinly want it. I worry about private sales, and if i'm unsure about an owner i won't sell to them. If they don't have the correct knowledge i'll take up half an hour of their time and educate them. I do the same with petshops before a sale also :)I really like this point, i'm also not totally against pet shops, but beleive like you, they need to be educated on a large scale.

Edited April 27, 200817 yr by KAZ
removed double posted post

I totally agree with DrNat’s comments. Luckily our local pets shops are I think run quite well.

 

I’m older than most of you guys, I have seen how things have changed since I was young & believe me all controls brought in haven’t been for the best, I think. Ultimately each individual has to carry responsibility for his or her own actions. With blanket controls we all loose a little of our own freedom.

Well said I agree. Some get it right and some get it so wrong. All we need to do is support the ones that get it right and help the ones that are getting it wrong.

Why am I always the one to disagree!

Pet shops are the ones that let the whole world of birds down.

Their shops smell and the birds are far from healthy , they are over priced , and the accessories DONT start me there.

These places are the so called front and the people that own them no **** all about the birds , animals they are selling .

I have lost count of the stores that have scaly face birds in them and thats just the start.

I believe that the govt should with The appropriate knowleadge and I dont mean RSPCA , regulate the industry more carefully for the well being of the birds and for the people that are buying them so everyone is informed of how to look after an animal.

I watched an interesting show on Tv this morning and it was about Sydneys Clover Moore , She pretty much wants to ban the sale of dogs and cats from pet stores , in an attempt to curbe the impulse buying and the high dumpage rate , Wouldnt education from the pet stores and Govt be more benifical , Pets stores will only see the bottom line in the end $$$.

Its just my opinion and does anyone really care

lonebudgie I think it comes down to what you have experienced.

 

I take two pet stores.

 

Petstore A has puppies for sale @ $600 - $900 mark

 

Petstore B has puppies for sale @ $800 - $900 mark

 

Petstore A gives you a puppy that has had a health check by a vet and it's first injections, has been de sexed & microchipped, an info sheet, a months worth of food, vet records and 40% off first vet visit to the local vet. Puppies that or older are reduced in price and walked by the staff until they are housed if they miss being housed as a puppy they are fostered out to home and put through training courses and adopted out at a later date. You also need to supply info to the pet store with size of back yard, work hours etc... they do vet their prosective buyers

 

Petstore B gives you a puppy with first injections and health check record done by the manager.

 

Would you stop Petstore A from selling puppies? They offer more then what most breeders would offer you and they do not take puppies from serial breeders eg people breeding dogs just to make a quick buck or puppy farms.

 

Same goes for some birds that are sold via pet stores. I always said I would never get through a pet store but I have done that. I agree with how Ivan breeds cares for and sells him birds. He is happy to take on excess stock and has taken sick birds off people or done change overs when people have been sold the wrong type of bird. his staff are pretty stable and are trained in looking after the animals. One girl has a badge that says "I know nothing about birds please don't ask me ask him..." cause she does not and she does not sell or help people purchase birds. Ask her about a rabbit and she is great!

 

Some people have great experenses dealing with pet stores some have terriable ones.

lonebudgie I think it comes down to what you have experienced.I take two pet stores. Petstore A has puppies for sale @ $600 - $900 markPetstore B has puppies for sale @ $800 - $900 markPetstore A gives you a puppy that has had a health check by a vet and it's first injections, has been de sexed & microchipped, an info sheet, a months worth of food, vet records and 40% off first vet visit to the local vet. Puppies that or older are reduced in price and walked by the staff until they are housed if they miss being housed as a puppy they are fostered out to home and put through training courses and adopted out at a later date. You also need to supply info to the pet store with size of back yard, work hours etc... they do vet their prosective buyersPetstore B gives you a puppy with first injections and health check record done by the manager.Would you stop Petstore A from selling puppies? They offer more then what most breeders would offer you and they do not take puppies from serial breeders eg people breeding dogs just to make a quick buck or puppy farms.I have no doubt that there are good Pet stores out there , But anyone can open a pet store tomorrow with not qualifications , so maybe there needs to be a license system that the govt can regulate , That way animals are happy , the public are happy and the pet store has to do the right thing by both.Same goes for some birds that are sold via pet stores. I always said I would never get through a pet store but I have done that. I agree with how Ivan breeds cares for and sells him birds. He is happy to take on excess stock and has taken sick birds off people or done change overs when people have been sold the wrong type of bird. his staff are pretty stable and are trained in looking after the animals. One girl has a badge that says "I know nothing about birds please don't ask me ask him..." cause she does not and she does not sell or help people purchase birds. Ask her about a rabbit and she is great!Some people have great experenses dealing with pet stores some have terriable ones.

lonebudgie I think it comes down to what you have experienced.I take two pet stores. Petstore A has puppies for sale @ $600 - $900 markPetstore B has puppies for sale @ $800 - $900 markPetstore A gives you a puppy that has had a health check by a vet and it's first injections, has been de sexed & microchipped, an info sheet, a months worth of food, vet records and 40% off first vet visit to the local vet. Puppies that or older are reduced in price and walked by the staff until they are housed if they miss being housed as a puppy they are fostered out to home and put through training courses and adopted out at a later date. You also need to supply info to the pet store with size of back yard, work hours etc... they do vet their prosective buyersPetstore B gives you a puppy with first injections and health check record done by the manager.Would you stop Petstore A from selling puppies? They offer more then what most breeders would offer you and they do not take puppies from serial breeders eg people breeding dogs just to make a quick buck or puppy farms.Same goes for some birds that are sold via pet stores. I always said I would never get through a pet store but I have done that. I agree with how Ivan breeds cares for and sells him birds. He is happy to take on excess stock and has taken sick birds off people or done change overs when people have been sold the wrong type of bird. his staff are pretty stable and are trained in looking after the animals. One girl has a badge that says "I know nothing about birds please don't ask me ask him..." cause she does not and she does not sell or help people purchase birds. Ask her about a rabbit and she is great!Some people have great experenses dealing with pet stores some have terriable ones.

I have no doubt that there are good Pet stores out there , But anyone can open a pet store tomorrow with not qualifications , so maybe there needs to be a license system that the govt can regulate , That way animals are happy , the public are happy and the pet store has to do the right thing by both.

Theoretically pet stores are obliged to keep their animals to certain standards, etc. The main prolem is a lack of policing

Licence for this, licence for that. Maybe we need a licence to breathe??? Are we really going to continue to be this silly about life? The whole idea is to learn and to simplify it, not to continue to create more complications for ourselves.

I agree there need to be better policing of the petshops and they need to be made more accountable.

Licence for this, licence for that. Maybe we need a licence to breathe??? Are we really going to continue to be this silly about life? The whole idea is to learn and to simplify it, not to continue to create more complications for ourselves.

I remember seeing a simpsons episode where homer put signs everywhere so people knew what too do , This is the same thing,

We are in the twenty first century , no one can think for themselves anymore they have to be told what they can and cant do , no one is responsible for anything , its always someone elses fault , I can go on and on , but the fact is this is our future .

I have two apprentices that work for my company and its taken me months to teach them, For one that there is more to learn in life and they dont know everything and two to make decisions and have a go , this is our youth and it all comes back to Morals and Responsibilities .

In my industry there is a licence for everything and you have to pay for it , so why not licence some more people and keep on raising that revenue.

The worst thing is thatmost of these licences have no education requirement anyway, just money changing hands. Like basic wildlife licenses, you don't need to provide any proof that you are capable of caring for those animals just a willingness to send them a cheque, what does that prove!!

Why am I always the one to disagree!

Pet shops are the ones that let the whole world of birds down.

Their shops smell and the birds are far from healthy , they are over priced , and the accessories DONT start me there.

These places are the so called front and the people that own them no **** all about the birds , animals they are selling .

I have lost count of the stores that have scaly face birds in them and thats just the start.

I believe that the govt should with The appropriate knowleadge and I dont mean RSPCA , regulate the industry more carefully for the well being of the birds and for the people that are buying them so everyone is informed of how to look after an animal.

I watched an interesting show on Tv this morning and it was about Sydneys Clover Moore , She pretty much wants to ban the sale of dogs and cats from pet stores , in an attempt to curbe the impulse buying and the high dumpage rate , Wouldnt education from the pet stores and Govt be more benifical , Pets stores will only see the bottom line in the end $$$.

Its just my opinion and does anyone really care

 

I agree with everything you said lonebudgie!

Banning the sale of pups and kittens from pet stores won't solve the problem though, there needs to be a law requiring the desexing of dogs and cats not kept for genuine breeding purposes. Whether or not you stop the sale in pet shops you will still have the hundreds of people that advertise in the trading post every week

Licence for this, licence for that. Maybe we need a licence to breathe??? Are we really going to continue to be this silly about life? The whole idea is to learn and to simplify it, not to continue to create more complications for ourselves.

I remember seeing a simpsons episode where homer put signs everywhere so people knew what too do , This is the same thing,

We are in the twenty first century , no one can think for themselves anymore they have to be told what they can and cant do , no one is responsible for anything , its always someone elses fault , I can go on and on , but the fact is this is our future .

I have two apprentices that work for my company and its taken me months to teach them, For one that there is more to learn in life and they dont know everything and two to make decisions and have a go , this is our youth and it all comes back to Morals and Responsibilities .

In my industry there is a licence for everything and you have to pay for it , so why not licence some more people and keep on raising that revenue.

 

 

It's a Y generation thing! They want everything handed to them.

I have a lot of fun with the young blokes, they are so stupid and gullible! and it seem the higher the education they have, the more naive they are, with absolutely no common sense!

I agree throwback, the young BLOKES haha

I agree with the 'y generation' comment. I guess I am probably part of the y generation being in my 20s but I was raised by parents who have always expected us to be accountable for our own actions, be aware of our limitations and listen to people that know more than us. Some of the people I go t uni with I look at them and think "Wow, how will you survive in the real world, you have NO idea!" I have kids too though so maybe that gives me a little more insight than my bachelor mates...

Licence for this, licence for that. Maybe we need a licence to breathe??? Are we really going to continue to be this silly about life? The whole idea is to learn and to simplify it, not to continue to create more complications for ourselves.

I remember seeing a simpsons episode where homer put signs everywhere so people knew what too do , This is the same thing,

We are in the twenty first century , no one can think for themselves anymore they have to be told what they can and cant do , no one is responsible for anything , its always someone elses fault , I can go on and on , but the fact is this is our future .

I have two apprentices that work for my company and its taken me months to teach them, For one that there is more to learn in life and they dont know everything and two to make decisions and have a go , this is our youth and it all comes back to Morals and Responsibilities .

In my industry there is a licence for everything and you have to pay for it , so why not licence some more people and keep on raising that revenue.

 

 

It's a Y generation thing! They want everything handed to them.

I have a lot of fun with the young blokes, they are so stupid and gullible! and it seem the higher the education they have, the more naive they are, with absolutely no common sense!

 

I disagree...but then thats probably to be expected because I am a gen Y. I don't want to be told what to do - I'll do what I want to do (within reason because I'm a strictly law-abiding person)....this certainly isn't a "Nineteen Eighty Four" society, its a long way off that and I don't think it'll ever happen. Of course, most young men seem stupid but thats the same with all generations! My dad did some pretty stupid things when he was young (one event involving a lump of sodium and Lake Eildon...after a bit much alcohol of course). Now he's turned into the 'wise old man' type .

 

Society's too human-centric anyway...I like to steer clear of it most of the time. Budgies may be "bird brained" but at least they live guilt-free (and they get humans to wait hand and foot on them)!

Edited June 15, 200817 yr by Caheao

Every generation is created by the one that came before it. The Y generation is so aptly named for that reason. Y are we here? Y are they like that? Y am I doing this? The answer is because the generations that have gone before have made it too complicated. We need to keep it simple. The more of your own personal power you willingly hand over to some other person, other "authority", government and the like etc etc etc, the less empowered you are to actually think and do for yourself.

Edited June 15, 200817 yr by DrNat

I agree with the 'y generation' comment. I guess I am probably part of the y generation being in my 20s but I was raised by parents who have always expected us to be accountable for our own actions, be aware of our limitations and listen to people that know more than us. Some of the people I go t uni with I look at them and think "Wow, how will you survive in the real world, you have NO idea!" I have kids too though so maybe that gives me a little more insight than my bachelor mates...

 

haha...when I look around uni (i'm in first year), I think "ha, 1/4 of you are going to drop out!".

 

The problem is sterotyping...not all generation ys are bad/ignorant/etc etc. I would say most young people are ignorant of the "real world"...but that isn't something unique to generation y, everything that is "young" is ignorant to an extent and if you don't learn quickly you might not survive (in terms of other animals, not just humans). And there are going to be people (like you) who are a little ahead of the rest.

The problem is sterotyping...not all generation ys are bad/ignorant/etc etc. I would say most young people are ignorant of the "real world"...but that isn't something unique to generation y, everything that is "young" is ignorant to an extent and if you don't learn quickly you might not survive (in terms of other animals, not just humans). And there are going to be people (like you) who are a little ahead of the rest.

 

What I wonder though is whether our generation is staying emotionally young until later though. In the past young people had more responsibilities and were babyed less than they are now. I have worked as a 'nanny' for teenage kids that didn't even know how to grill cheese on toast!

Every generation is created by the one that came before it. The Y generation is so aptly named for that reason. Y are we here? Y are they like that? Y am I doing this? The answer is because the generations that have gone before have made it too complicated. We need to keep it simple. The more of your own personal power you willingly hand over to some other person, other "authority", government and the like etc etc etc, the less empowered you are to actually think for yourself.

 

 

Wow, and there I was thinking that generation Y was called so because the generation that came before it was generation X!

 

Humans have this amazing thing where knowledge is accumulated over the generations instead of knowledge "dying" with the individuals of the generation before.

 

But how did we get from pet shops to this??