PETA vs. Petco: From Powerful Protests to a Dame Judi Dench Plea
If you needed another reason to stop supporting Petco, PETA’s latest investigation into the company’s supply chain led to citations for thousands of violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. Our three‑month undercover investigation into Creekside Birds—a massive parakeet breeder in Petco’s supply chain—revealed cruelty so extreme it reads like a horror story. A co-owner and senior worker were caught ripping live birds’ heads off, crushing parakeets’ necks, and leaving sick, injured animals to suffer for weeks without a shred of veterinary care. Nearly 10,000 parakeets were jammed into tiny, filthy cages, and in just 27 days, the investigator documented nearly 1,400 dead birds.
Every bird sold at Petco suffers long before they even reach store shelves—and PETA’s campaign is making sure shoppers know it. We’re urging the public to steer clear of Petco until it ends its bird sales, and we’re turning up the pressure with bold, attention‑grabbing actions across the country.
How PETA’s Putting the Heat on Petco
September 2026
Devoted Bird Guardian Dame Judi Dench Wrote to Petco
One of England’s most celebrated actors, Dame Judi Dench, sent Petco a letter urging the company to stop treating birds as merchandise. Drawing on her own relationship with her bird companion, Sweetie, Dench made an urgent plea to end the suffering of birds in the pet trade.
“I live with a bird named Sweetie who I love just like family. Anyone who has ever shared their home with a bird knows they are curious, emotional, intelligent individuals with their own personalities and preferences. They feel joy, fear, loneliness, and excitement just like dogs, cats, and humans.”
Courtney Stodden Caged Herself for Birds in Downtown Los Angeles
“Let Birds Be Free!” Those were the words model and media personality Courtney Stodden shouted from behind the bars of an 8-foot-tall cage outside a downtown Los Angeles Petco, where she appeared as a wounded, bloodied parakeet. The dramatic demonstration quickly became a magnet for attention, drawing crowds, stopping traffic, and even attracting TMZ, which arrived to interview Courtney and cover the protest. Toward the end, she symbolically broke free from the cage and marched toward Petco’s entrance, convincing several shoppers to buy their animal companion supplies somewhere else.
August 2026
PETA Took a Swing at Petco at the Padres vs Pirates Game
While the Padres prepared to take on the Pirates at San Diego’s Petco Park, PETA stepped up to the plate for birds—by unfurling massive banners over the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge with the words “Parakeets Suffer and Die for Petco.” Visible to baseball fans streaming toward the stadium and drivers below, the display knocked PETA’s message far beyond the ballpark.
Petco Management Came Face-to-Face With Bird Defenders in Virginia Beach
Two dozen PETA supporters descended on a Petco in Virginia Beach to bring the campaign directly to shoppers, employees, and management. As protesters fanned out across the busy shopping plaza, PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk entered the store and pressed managers with hard-hitting questions about Petco’s bird sales, refusing to let them dodge accountability. Many customers stopped to watch footage from PETA’s investigation, horrified to learn that a breeding operation tied to Petco trapped birds in wire cages caked with feces and littered with the remains of baby chicks.
Stilt-Walking ‘Parakeets’ Flocked to Union Square
Amid the bustle of Union Square, PETA’s towering “parakeets” stopped New Yorkers in their tracks. Perched atop tree-like stilts outside a Petco store, the body-painted advocates exposed passersby and would-be customers to the cruelty in the company’s supply chain.
A Giant ‘Parakeet’ Turned Heads in Miami Beach
A nearly nude PETA supporter, body-painted as a parakeet with bloody wounds, languished in a 9-foot-tall cage outside a Miami Beach Petco. The spectacle, which included avian allies holding giant images of sick, injured, and dead birds next to a sign reading “Birds’ Heads Ripped Off at Breeder Tied to Petco,” sparked conversations with shoppers and passersby about how these sensitive birds suffer in the pet trade. Advocates also spoke with store employees, reinforcing PETA’s call for Petco to stop selling birds and other animals.
July 2026
PETA’s ‘Wounded Bird’ Swoops Into the Mile High City
Outside a Petco store in Denver, PETA supporters, including our body-painted “caged parakeet,” squawked up for birds. As curious crowds gathered, many learned more about the campaign and spoke out in favor of adoption.
June 2026
Punk Icon Iggy Pop Puts Petco Execs in the Hot Seat
Music legend Iggy Pop held Petco executives’ feet to the fire during the company’s annual shareholder meeting. The Godfather of Punk—and doting guardian to his beloved cockatoo, Biggy Pop—helped PETA confront the board about the cruelty uncovered in its latest investigation, by asking: “When will Petco end the sale of birds?”
Outside Petco’s headquarters, PETA supporters screened footage from the investigation, displaying massive signs reading “Birds’ Heads Ripped Off at Breeder Tied to Petco.”
Chicago Bird Defenders Show the Faces of Petco’s Victims
PETA supporters descended on a Chicago Petco store bearing giant images of parakeets who suffered and died at Creekside Birds. The bold demonstration was also a reminder that the cruelty at this supplier isn’t isolated. Multiple PETA investigations and whistleblower reports from facilities that supply animals to Petco and other big‑box chains have documented severe crowding, filth, and neglect. In one damning report, a former Petco employee described dismal conditions for birds, including a parakeet who was pecked to death by stressed cagemates, exposing the bird’s skull.
Avian Advocates Flock to San Diego to Call Petco Out
One week after PETA released our undercover footage from Creekside Birds, more than 30 fired‑up protesters flooded the sidewalk outside a San Diego Petco, holding bold signs, chanting nonstop, and handing out leaflets to everyone who passed. The crowd drew instant attention—shoppers stopped to find out what was happening, drivers honked and waved, and those who spoke with our advocates backed the call to end Petco’s bird sales.
When the first demo wrapped, the momentum didn’t stop. A group of PETA supporters headed straight to Petco’s corporate headquarters, marched inside with an iPad blasting the undercover investigative footage, and asked if any executives would watch the footage. Staff refused and ordered them out—but the protestors weren’t done. They launched another demonstration right outside the building, pressing their signs against the glass windows as employees inside watched.
We Need YOU To Keep the Momentum Going
Birds aren’t merchandise—they’re complex, social, emotionally rich individuals who suffer when humans exploit them and treat them like décor.
Parakeets are small parrots native to Australia. In nature, they live in large flocks, stay highly active, fly for miles each day, and spend their time climbing, exploring, and bathing. They mate for life, show affection by preening one another, and only breed during the rainy season when food is abundant enough to ensure their chicks’ survival.
None of that is possible in the cruel pet trade.
Petco has already ended the sale of larger birds—including Amazon parrots, cockatoos, and macaws—after talks with PETA. Ending all bird sales is the necessary next step.
Keep checking back here for more updates on the campaign, and join PETA’s Action Team to find out whether there’s a demonstration near you. Together, we can push Petco to stop selling birds.
Tens of thousands of supporters have already taken action against Petco. Will you join them?
