A Bird in a Cage Puts All Heaven in a Rage: Nearly 2,000 Birds Rescued in PETA India Raids

Hundreds were imprisoned in dingy, filthy cages. Others were stuffed into cloth bags. And many were dead when the Delhi Forest Department, acting on a complaint from PETA India, swept into the Kabutar Market outside Delhi and rescued 1,000 Alexandrine parakeets, finches, and other birds from its shops.

Following the raid, during which parakeets were found hidden inside locked shops, police registered a criminal complaint against the alleged perpetrators under India’s wildlife protection act, which lists native Indian birds as protected species. The surviving birds were rehabilitated and released, or set up in a sanctuary for permanent care if unreleasable.

Thousands of birds are flying free today thanks to PETA India, which regularly provides law enforcement with enough information and support to crack down on the illegal bird trade. In another raid, after being tipped off by PETA India, forest officials in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, recovered more than 700 parakeets, munias, Indian silverbills, and a common hill myna from shops at Parade Bazar. The birds received veterinary treatment and rehabilitation before being released – and three perpetrators were arrested.

These weren’t the only raids at either location. In 2022, thanks to PETA India’s tips, Delhi police rescued thousands of adult and baby parakeets, munias, and other birds at Kabutar Market, and a separate raid in December 2024 brought nearly 150 parakeets and pigeons to safety. Also last year, Kanpur authorities rescued Indian ring-necked parakeets from small, dirty cages at a juice vendor’s shop at Parade Bazar. All the raids were prompted by PETA India.

Animal Traffickers Treat Living Beings as Trinkets

Birds are born to fly in the open sky – it is fundamental to their well-being, an integral part of who they are. Yet, in India’s illegal bird trade, they are stolen from their forest homes – deprived of family, friends, and freedom – so that they can be sold as “pets” or kept in a tiny wooden box and brought out to be used as bogus “fortune-tellers.”

Fledglings are often snatched from their nests, and other birds are caught in traps or nets, which can cause serious injury or death. Birds are illegally transported, and bribes are paid to authorities to look the other way while poachers bring thousands of birds from India’s forests into the cities. On the journey, 60% of birds die from broken wings and legs, thirst, or sheer panic. This isn’t limited to India, of course: birds are smuggled into the U.S. more frequently than any other species.

Birds who survive all this are doomed to a bleak life in captivity, where they suffer from stress, loneliness, and depression, sometimes for decades. Many become so despondent that they relentlessly scream or pluck out their feathers until they are bleeding and raw.

Add to the victories above that, thanks to PETA India’s recent tip-offs, 30 birds were rescued from a pet shop, two birds kept in a private residence were saved, two Alexandrine parakeets were seized from a man at New Delhi Railway Station, and more. Following PETA India’s appeals, the governments of Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Haryana, Sikkim, and Telangana all directed local officers to strictly enforce bans on caging and confining birds.