Punk Icon Iggy Pop to Confront Petco Execs Over Ties to Breeder Who Ripped Off Birds’ Heads

For Immediate Release:
June 29, 2026

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

San Diego –

Following a damning PETA undercover investigation revealing rampant neglect and staff killing birds in violent, agonizing ways at Creekside Birds, a breeder in Petco’s supply chain that has since been cited for thousands of federal animal welfare violations, music legend Iggy Pop will hold Petco executives’ feet to the fire during the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday. The Godfather of Punk—doting guardian to a beloved cockatoo named Biggy Pop—will ask the following question:

My name is Iggy Pop, and I’m speaking on behalf of PETA.

“PETA’s recent investigation into a Petco supply chain breeder documented roughly 10,000 birds crammed into filthy cages littered with dead chicks. Severe stress drove some to attack their babies. Staff cruelly killed birds in need of vet care, even by pulling their heads off. No one confirmed the birds were dead, so some were left to suffer. In just 27 days, nearly 1,400 birds were found dead.

These conditions violate Petco’s own vendor code of conduct.

My question is this: When will Petco end the sale of birds?”

*These 88 birds were among the 100 PETA’s investigator and other workers found dead in a single day. Photo: PETA*

Native to Australia, parakeets are exotic birds who can live up to 20 years. They mate for life, live in large flocks, fly for miles daily, and enjoy climbing and bathing. At Creekside Birds, sick and injured birds were left to suffer without veterinary care. Cages were never cleaned—only the trays underneath were scraped—and bird waste accumulated in what a co-owner called “poop towers.” Workers told PETA’s investigator that they use a BB gun to shoot and kill parakeets who escape cages and are not captured. When two birds escaped outdoors, a worker said, “The cat will take care of them,” and left them to die in the freezing cold.

Multiple PETA investigations into and whistleblower reports from facilities that supply reptiles, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, hamsters, and more to Petco have documented widespread cruelty, suffering, and neglect.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram