today in the supermarket a woman had a large bird on her hand

[grasswire]

(I realize this subject is ripe for copycat threads!)

No tether or anything. She came through the self-checkout aisle. While she was handling the items, she sat the bird on the checkout, right where people put food items. It perched there until she was done.

Ick.

I love birds, and this was a real beauty -- soft brown with a soft orange/red tail. But WTH??

In this same market I have also seen a man with a large lizard on his shoulder, dogs being carried and on leash (it is against the law for a dog to ride in the shopping cart apparently), a bunny on the floor with a little girl, etc. WTH?

By law, employees may not say anything to the pet owner. I was informed that by the store manager.

Hey people. Pets don't belong in the store unless they are certified companion animals. Please. Birds and reptiles carry disease.

[rug]

1. What do you expect when you go the Supermarket of Dr. Moreau?

[grasswire]

2. It's beginning to feel like Dr. Doolittle is a Kroger's shareholder.

Hehe.

[MiddleFingerMom]

3. Maybe she was training it...

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"THERE... ... ... ... now do you see what happens to naughty little birds?"
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[Sweet Charming Dem]

4. Actually, I seriously doubt that's the law

And it's most likely a health code violation if it's not a service animal.

[petronius]

10. Yeah, "it's a law" generally translates to "I don't wanna" or "I don't have clue"

:)

[grasswire]

11. well, it's a grey area

Regarding the law, only service animals are allowed in places where food is sold. However:

The federal Food Code, based on language from the Americans with Disabilities Act, describes service animals as aiding people with physical disabilities and performing certain tasks the disabled person cannot, like those provided by Seeing Eye dogs. The code says, too, that a service animal is not considered a pet.

Yet the disability law also limits the extent to which a private business can question people about their disabilities and the service an animal provides, and there is no requirement under state or federal law that an animal be licensed or somehow labeled as a service animal ... the limits on questions a business can ask could leave the door open to interpretation and abuse.

Regarding store policy: this store, which is part of the Kroger empire, prohibits its employees from asking the pet owner any questions. Easier to allow the pet in the store than face a litigious pet owner.

[tigereye]

15. seeing eye bird? Therapy bird? Therapy rabbit?

Maybe they all have familiars, like in the Phillip Pullman books! :D

[Swede]

5. Well that's worth two in the bush.

Whatever that means.:shrug:

[Taverner]

6. I have never really liked birds

Dinosaurs with feathers, I say...

For those who have them, I'm sure they're great pets and all but

Dinosaurs with feathers

[realisticphish]

21. how is that a NEGATIVE

tiny pet velociraptor with feathers? YES PLEASE

[pitohui]

7. birds actually DON'T carry disease

a sick bird is a dead bird, i wouldn't be a bit concerned about it

i would be more concerned about such things as chicken blood, meat blood, etc. on the check-out counter either getting on my hands or getting on the bird

the bird is no threat to you or your groceries, but some groceries (raw meat) could be a threat to your bird

[grasswire]

9. CDC says otherwise

Not every bird is going to be a carrier, but it can happen.

http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/birds.htm

[Kat45]

29. I was going to say the same thing. n/t

[nolabear]

8. The bird's unlikely to have anything that can harm you but

they do often have feces on their perches and cages so you might be exposed to a little bird poo. To tell you the truth, the toddler that sat in the shopping cart is probably far more likely to make you ill and to spread human poo around the store. That said, I'd probably rather not put my raw veggies down where the bird had been perching too.

Oh, and about that "dinosaurs with feathers" thing upthread, my African Grey is smarter than many a dog I've seen, I kid you not. Her brain works very differently, but she interacts with the family in a very cognizant, purposeful manner. She and the dogs and cat have entire social routines worked out. But I still wouldn't sit her on my countertops.

[BlueJazz]

12. I believe she may have had one of those Seeing-Eye birds.

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. Saw a woman with a bird on her shoulder in a Stater Bros. a few years ago.

She was walking through the produce section. She had a trail of birdshit down her back. Another customer and I complained and the Manager asked her to leave.

Gross.

[jobycom]

14. And you should see what crawls over the groceries in the stock room!

:wow:

[In_The_Wind]

16. I wanna move where you are!

I used to take my Blue & Gold Macaw everywhere with me but I never took her into the grocery store so she could pick out her own fruit. :rofl:

[realisticphish]

18. One of our customers

when I worked at a pet store had a special perch made for his African Grey. He was a trucker, and the perch strapped onto the seat, so the bird could watch out the window as they were traveling

[In_The_Wind]

19. I'm a pilot car for oversize trucking loads.

I'm sure the African Grey loved being co-pilot.

Bird owners do go overboard making a comfy spot for their feathered friends. When I could afford it ~ I bought pick-up trucks and cars that were large Macaw friendly.

Frodo is at home in NY. She misses the travel time with me but I'm currently driving a (new to me) very old car. I want to be sure the car, heat and air-conditioning in my Benz will be safe for her before I bring her out on the road again. My husband is caring for her. She feels safe in her huge cage in my bedroom.

[realisticphish]

20. I'm impressed

that you managed to find a car that could handle a macaw. We hosted one that was on its way to a specialist vet, and we had a hell of a time finding a cage that it could stay in without dragging its tail

[In_The_Wind]

22. I had a stainless steel cage built for her.

I went car shopping with a tape-measure in hand.

The cage was a small square one that was tall. I took her out as much as possible.
Her cage should fit on the floor between the back of the passenger seat and the backseat. If that doesn't work :shrug: I'll remove the backseat. She can have all the room she needs except for riding out of the cage. I have also used a huge dog carrier with a rope perch near the top. She needs tail room not head room. She's been part of my life for 10 years.
When I brought her home she was still eating macaw formula from a syringe. That was a trip and a half for both of us.

[realisticphish]

17. If the flight feathers are trimmed, it wouldn't need a tether anyway

the most it could do would be to flutter down to the ground. Large birds are very smart, and enjoy (depending on the species) being out and about.

I didn't like birds, until I worked with them at a pet store, and fell in love with Amazons. One in particular, a double-yellow headed, that we had for a year was my buddy. He got transferred to another store, and I almost had to call off work that day because I was so upset, but I wanted to say goodbye.

Yeah, birds can carry disease, but people are more dangerous in that respect. If the bird isn't trained properly in terms of when/where to poop, then i can see the complaint. If you have a large bird out in public, it should be pretty well cage trained (of course, this is coming from a non-bird owner)

[grasswire]

23. well, I was worried for the bird

This huge grocery store is warehouse style, with very tall industrial type ceiling -- pipes and fans and all that stuff. Retrieving a bird from there would be extremely difficult.

[realisticphish]

25. well, like I said

the vast majority of large birds that people take anywhere have their flight feathers trimmed. It's quick, painless, and they grow back pretty darn quickly.

Now, at the store we did have finches escape. Yeah, THAT'S fun. Basically a wild bird having a fun time flying around with the a/c ducts. And we're trying to catch it with a home-made butterfly net made out of fish nets, while also not hurting or terrifying the poor thing

[Fire Walk With Me]

24. Could be worse. I once saw a guy with a Possum on his shoulder.

[realisticphish]

26. wow

I'm simultaneously interested and horrified. An unusual pet, I guess, but every possum I've ever encountered is summoned directly from the bowels of hell

[Arkansas Granny]

27. I don't know what the law is for pets in a grocery store, and maybe it varies from state to state,

but I always thought that only service animals were allowed. It doesn't sound very sanitary to me to have pets around food items.

[applegrove]

28. I've seen birds flying around the produce section of the grocery store way up high. Don't know how

you get a songbird like that out.

[Curmudgeoness]

30. Watch it, I used to take my macaw with me all the time, but on my

shoulder so she wasn't on the counter. Does that make me a bad person?

[whistler162]

31. With or without black eye patch and peg leg, me hearty?

[grasswire]

32. apparently, according to USDA regs

Gotta ask why. For the bird's entertainment, or what? Don't get me wrong -- I love birds and am in awe of them.

[Curmudgeoness]

36. The why is hard to say. I would just be out and about and

would take her with me, mostly because she liked going for rides, and I would have to run in to the store for something. She just was there with me. I never got bad reactions, only people who were fascinated with her. I suppose that if someone had made a comment about how inappropriate it was, I would have thought twice about doing it. That just never happened. I had lots of teachable moments when she was with me.

[Kang Colby]

33. Neat story.

I've never seen anything like that before....are you sure you weren't shopping at PetsMart?

[KT2000]

34. I have seen

people pushing carts with their toddlers and weed & feed and fresh produce in the same cart.

[RedCloud]

35. be careful she does not try to flip you the bird.